it’sveryimportanttoholdontoourheritage,ourreligion,our
culture,andIthinkyoucando itthroughfoodandreligion.”
Susanwasraised inthenearbyChicagosuburbofSkokie
and educated at Long IslandUniversity inSouthampton,
NewYork. She has just returned from India, where she
bought $75,000worth of inventory from small villages,
inventory that is in transit toherstoreviacontainership. I
askherwhysomanySouthAsianshavemovedtoWestRidge
andestablishedbusinessesonDevon.
“Itwas affordable,” she says. “Itwasnear public trans-
portation. Itwas abustling area. The Jewish community
wasaveryeasycommunitytoworkwithandassimilate into
becausetheyhadsuchstrongreligiouspractices,andIthink
thatHindus andMuslims alsohave such strongpractices.
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reallypopularamongtheRussianJewsandtheRomanians.”
An employee interrupts our conversation and hands
Esther a lump of dough. She explains: “Every time they
makeanewdough I removeapiece, sayaprayer and then
burnthedough.It’sawoman’sblessing;oneofourmitzvahs.”
Religious rituals arenever far fromSusanPatel’smind
either.AsownerofPatelHandicrafts, shestocksthousands
ofgoods, includingreligious itemsforHindussuchasaltars,
temples, idols, dhol drums, deity jewelry sets, ceremonial
pooja clothes and cooking vesselsmadeof stainless steel
and terra-cotta.Her small store—packedfloor to ceiling
withmerchandise— issimilar towhatyoumightfind inan
alleyway inIndiaor inaMiddleEasternsouk.“Anythingyou
needforyourreligiouspractices,wesell,”Patelsays.“Ithink
DevonAvenue isalwaysbustlingwithactivity.
