Walter Vale is a widower who teaches economics at a Connecticut university. He lives alone and is no longer motivated by his work. In New York to present a paper at a conference, he goes to the apartment that he has not visited in some time, but has kept since his wife was alive, only to discover a young couple living there. Despite their great cultural differences, Walter befriends Tarek, a Syrian citizen and drummer, and gradually builds a friendship...

Ana, a new employee in Reza's cafeteria, has high spirits that thaws Reza's joyless life in Zurich.

The son of Indian immigrants born in America wants to fit in with fellow New Yorkers, but his family is unwilling to let go of their traditional ways.

The tale of an immigrant and his family trying to live the American Dream in the 1980s and expand their business amidst rampant violence, urban decay, and corrupt city officials during one of the most dangerous years in the city's history.