There’s an off-kilter feel to “Dinner Party” by Pardeep Toor. Perhaps, in part, because the story is built on one lie after another. When Neelam and Hans (a new couple) arrive late to Neelam’s childhood home, Neelam’s mother confronts them. “You’re late,” she says.

Neelam replies with a lie: “The roads are really bad down state.”

The reply leaves Hans feeling uneasy because “The roads were clean, and the snow had stopped in the morning. Neelam had driven over the speed limit.”

Of course the events of the story are more complicated than the telling of a few lies. Neelam is bringing Hans home for the first time to meet her parents, an immigrant couple who has not returned to India after living in the States for at least a couple of decades. Hans himself, an immigrant, hasn’t returned either, but would like to do so. When Hans asks Pam (Neelam’s father) if he misses India, Pam replies: “Miss what? The overpopulation? The smell of sewage?” This answer complicates the situation because Hans wants to impress Neelam’s parents but also wants to defend his home country.

Throughout the dinner conversation, it’s revealed that Neelam has relatives in India that, apparently, have never been mentioned by her parents, Pam and Dal.

The dinner party itself is a lavish spread of food, wine, dessert liqueur, and prolonged dialogue, often tense and uncomfortable. It’s clear, for instance, that Hans holds his homeland in high regard, whereas Pam does not.

Despite the prolonged conversations, there’s much that’s not said as well. And Hans, meeting the parents for the first time, feels as though he’s now meeting the real Neelam for the first time. And Hans acknowledges to himself, at one point, “[He] believed that not telling was the same as lying,” as he continues to learn more and more about Neelam—who she is and her relationship with her parents.  

The mix of what is said versus not said is central to the story. And this dynamic is what propels Hans, ultimately, to determine what happens next between himself and Neelam.  

An engaging and important story about immigration, relationships, and class dynamics.

The story can be read here.

Pardeep Toor grew up in Brampton, Ontario and currently lives in Las Cruces, NM. His writing has appeared in the Best Debut Short Stories 2021: The PEN America Dau Prize, Electric Literature, Midwest Review, and Southern Humanities Review. His debut story collection Hands is forthcoming in April 2026. More info at https://pardeeptoor.com/.

Keith Pilapil Lesmeister is the author of the forthcoming story collection Ask Me About the Money (Fall 2026). He currently serves as fiction editor at Cutleaf Journal. More info at https://keithlesmeister.com/.