MUMBAI, India – A grueling 20-hour flight from Silicon Valley, India’s megacity of Slumdog Millionaire fame seems far removed from the U.S. economic meltdown. Shoppers and diners fill stores and restaurants in the upscale Phoenix Mills shopping center and the trendy SoMo (South of Bombay) neighborhood.

Ritzy hotels are filled with business people and investors betting on the economic future of India. And nearly three months after the terrorists’ attack that led to 188 deaths here, locals and tourists still flock to the imposing Gateway of India monument and the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, which is open but surrounded by heavy, armed security who eye every visitor – especially a foreign journalist shouldering a heavy black laptop bag.

I’ve jetted to India for a glimpse at how the country’s high-tech sector and other industries are doing during the economic meltdown – and to see how India’s rising number of cross-border corporations and startups will keep the nation growing as an economic force. Economists predict slower growth this year for India – there’s no such creature as a recession-proof nation. But the global downturn hasn’t hurt the world’s second fastest-growing economy as badly as other countries. And if the optimistic investors and entrepreneurs at glitzy financial and media conferences here are right, India could dodge a recession and see a new era of innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth in the coming decade.