hospitable to outsiders. Call me parochial, but I get a special thrill from knowing that somewhere amid its skyscrapers there is an Indian (Victor Menezes) trying to put together the pieces on the corporate finance side of the megamerger between Citibank and Travelers and another (Shashi Tharoor) working with UN secretary-general Kofi Annan to make the world a less miserable place. There is even an Indian leading the taxi drivers' union in its battle against the Mayor's capricious diktats.
This is a city that prides itself on throwing open its doors to all comers. When I asked the chief of reporters at Fortune magazine whether it would be willing to sponsor me for a green card, she sent a note along to the then managing editor. Minutes later, my boss, who combined Lauren Bacall's glamour with Bette Davis' deadpan delivery, said I had better look at his e-mailed reply myself. Fearing the worst, I peered at her computer screen, which read: Re: Rahul's immigration problem: I could adopt him or we could marry him off to my daughter. Please do whatever's necessary.