When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

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When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon


                Dimple was just happy to be at San Francisco State University, part of the summer program that would allow her to create an app and compete against other people for a prestigious prize. She’ll be going to Stanford in the fall and couldn’t believe her parents agreed to this 6-week summer program, especially since her mom has always cared more about Dimple one day finding the “Ideal Indian Husband.” So, on the very first day of the program, when a young man walks up to Dimple, and calls her future wife, she throws her coffee at him and runs. But Rishi had no idea that Dimple didn’t know their parents were old friends and arranged them to attend the same program. Rishi likes the idea of an arranged marriage. He likes the tradition and wants to have a family. Dimple though feels betrayed. Falling in love was never part of her plan.
                What Menon did with this book, was create a narrative about two Indian Americans with different perspectives on their culture who challenged each other’s view and decisions, bringing out really complicated emotions about what it means to follow traditional examples and to buck the norms. One of the things that I loved most was the way Dimple and Rishi discussed Indian culture. I’m not familiar with Indian tradition so I appreciated learning through these characters discussion. Rishi and Dimple were both grappling with different issues and their candor about issues like fitting in, being American versus being Indian. It got complicated and intense but it gushed with truth.
But this is also a love story, a really beautifully told love story. Dimple and Rishi were extremely well crafted characters. Both determined in the paths their lives were going to take. Menon’s writing is addictive and she wrote characters that I genuinely cared about and enjoyed reading about. The subtle nuances and behaviors of both characters is what made this a great story.
I’m definitely recommending this book. There were too many things that I loved about this story. I loved reading about the different aspects of Indian culture. I loved the chemistry that developed between Dimple and Rishi. I loved Dimple’s determination and drive. She is so sure of her path and where she is going to go in life. I loved that Menon casually tackled misogyny and privilege throughout the book. I also loved that there was a conversation about consensual sex between two of the characters where both were treating the topic and each other with mutual respect and care. For some people that might not be a lot, but for me it was huge and I’m glad Menon included that. Overall, this was a book I simply devoured and couldn’t stop reading. This is an easy 5 out 5 stars for me.

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