The Loneliest Potluck

By Veracity Vibes

Arun Khanna doesn't belong at this potluck. He's Punjabi, not Telugu. Divorced, lonely, and desperately seeking
connection in suburban Dallas, he crashes a Telugu New Year celebration hoping proximity to community might
alchemize into belonging through sheer persistence.

It won't.

At forty-eight, Arun has perfected the art of being present but absent-a ghost in his own life. His ex-wife left
him for being "furniture." His father stopped speaking to him years ago. His culture? Thrown away with the casual
carelessness of someone who assumed he could always buy another.

So he learns Telugu. Attends potlucks. Befriends Ravi, a successful businessman drowning in his own emptiness.
Takes language classes from Padma, a teacher exhausted by performing an identity she's not sure she believes in.
Makes pachadi, stumbles through pronunciation, and volunteers to give a speech at an elderly man's birthday
celebration.

The speech is a disaster. Then the old man dies.

With dark humor and unflinching honesty, The Loneliest Potluck explores what happens when belonging becomes
performance, when cultural preservation collides with assimilation, and when showing up is all you have left-even
when you know it will never be enough.

For readers who loved The Namesake and The Kite Runner but wanted something darker, funnier, and more honest about
the permanent displacement of immigrant life.

"Desperation having a logic all its own."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FXV87353
• ISBN13: 9798271545849
• Release Date: October 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 102 Pages
• Weight: 0.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"