I took a different route on my walking route tonight, and something unexpected happened, my hometown, Edison NJ, is (and the surrounding towns) one of the largest concentrations of Asian Indians in the country, this is not a new thing, it is something I grew up with so, it is daily life here (and yeah, I have better access to all types of fantastic Indian food than most of the country!)… anyway, the main drag here in town is almost like a Indian carnival at night, usually I just walk in my ‘hood around the blocks, tonight I ventured out onto said major drag (Oak Tree Road), something strange happened, as I walked from the depths of Livingston Acres (boy I am getting really local flavor wise here), I started walking towards what looks like an almost semi-carnival, the wind tonight was mellow, not cool, even sort of warm, but not the humid smack of the daytime so… even a hot wind was welcome, so, as I am walking toward the gaudy, almost Vegas like lights, a smell hits me like a veritable brick to the face, and that brick had a word on it… ‘deliciousness’, the waft of grilled food and exotic spices, but also the simple song of street food, the satisfying quick bite of fried anything or flame kissed meats doing the mambo with chilis, the whole spectacle of it reminded me of… the boardwalk. And when I say Boardwalk I mean one thing… Wildwood NJ. There are a lot of boardwalks in New Jersey.. but the one that is king, at least in my lifetime, is Wildwood. Atlantic City? No thanks, Seaside? Please… the memories of wandering around Moreys’ pier and the like, the really silly haunted castle, the tram car, it all came roaring back in my mind set off by almost similar circumstances, walking carefree on a summer night, the just enough breeze keep off just enough sweat to be bearable, your nose filled with a thousand delectable delights just a booth away (well, in this case store fronts), people bustling about, lots of cars whirring by, if Edison has a pulse, well, this is it, and somehow this transported me back to my times as kid, walking on the boardwalk taking it all in… how strange life is and circular – and unexpected that the human experiment comes to such common grounds.

now the question is do I want some Aloo Tikki or Funnel Cake? ?!?