WaPo on Transnational Desis

The Post covers the phenomenon of (legal) border-hoppiing Indian immmigrants in today's edition. My parents may someday add themselves to this phenomenon, as they keep threatening to move to India for part of the year. I can understand why - living there is much cheaper than living here, and they already own a flat outright. On the other hand, when I have a couple of kids, their song may change.

The Post article describes the phenomenon, and speculates as to its causes and ramifications:

In an era of webcams and discount airfares that help expatriates keep close ties to their homelands, researchers say Indians retain some of the closest, thanks in part to Indian media, which are particularly pervasive around the globe.

But few other immigrants live such "transnational" lives -- yet, said Muzaffar Chishti, director of the Migration Policy Institute at the New York University School of Law.

"Living in two places is going to be more of a phenomenon than we've seen in the past," Chishti said. "It raises, obviously, the very difficult question, a social and psychological question: What becomes home?"