Devon Avenue was originally known as Church Road, but it was renamed in the 1880s after a railway station in Philadelphia. A drive through Devon shows patterns of immigration to Chicago.

Between Kedzie and Ridge avenues, Devon passes through an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, a Russian-American neighborhood, an Indian-American and a Pakistani-American mohalla and a Bangadeshi basti.

On the portion which is called Golda Meir Avenue, there are Jewish food stores too, but it dwarfs in comparison to the desi bazaar that covers both sides of Devon for more than a mile.

The bazaar displays the desi culture in all its exuberance. Restaurants are full of rich greasy food that may lead to a heart attack but not before fully satisfying your taste buds. Shops are decorated with shalwar-qamiz and saris in all colors and styles.

And the shoppers make every effort to show an unrestrained enthusiasm that is a hallmark of all desi shoppers. All come here to spend but none more than those planning to visit home in the near future. They throng stores that specialise in electric gadgets which can be used in the Subcontinent too.

The most favourite are the GSM cell phones, not widely used in America, but popular back home among pre-paid users.

But few seemed interested in electric gadgets on Christmas Eve. Most had come to eat and there’s plenty on offer.

The Pakistanis could choose from Sabri Nehari, Al-Karim, Usmania, Data Darbar, Lahore Food, Khan Bar B Cue, Ravi Kebab and a dozen others.

For Indians, there were Uru-Swati, Tiffin, Hema's Kitchen, India House, Viceroy of India, Cumin, Arya Bhavan and Udupi Palace.

The Bangladeshis take advantage of their good relations with both and offer a combination of Indian and Pakistani cuisines, besides selling Bengali sweets, which obviously are the best in the Subcontinent.

Two men in their forties asked for “a full karahi, a dozen kebab, fried maghaz and four naans.”

When they finished eating this, they ordered kheer and gajar ka halwa too.

“I hope they have a good cardiologist,” commented a physician sitting on a nearby table.

But he was the only person in his group thinking of health on Christmas Eve. Others had as large an appetite as those two middle-aged men.

On another table, there was an interesting tussle between the old and new generations. While the parents loved their kebabs and biryani, the kids showed little enthusiasm.

“Mom, you do not eat kebab and karahi on Christmas Eve,” said a boy in his early teens.

“Yes, all you want are donuts and a double-Mac with a diet Coke,” said the mom, taking a big bite of her kebab and munching it with some relish.

“No, not really,” said the boy. “Anything but this bland desi food.”

But kebabs and gulab jamuns ruled Devon’s desi bazaar on Christmas Eve. “The other food” was still at least a generation away.