A blaring car horn sliced through the warm summer’s night. A door swung open on my left, bringing with it swirls of broken conversations from within and the unmistakable aroma of cardamom ensnared my nostrils. On a grocery run for sugar cane and dried mango slices, I found myself standing in the collision site of two different worlds, cultures and philosophies. In the humble street named Oak Tree Road in New Jersey, I saw a part of my identity spilled over across ten blocks of roadside restaurants, hordes of people, and total chaos.
Oak Tree Road is a small part of Edison Township dubbed as “Little India”, an ethnic hub for immigrants of South Asian descent.…