Hey guys and welcome to our first "official" Online Tea Party. If you're new here, Online Tea Party is a book club started by myself and Becca from My Life As A Sports Fangirl. Each month, we pick a book and come up with a few questions, preferably while sipping some yummy tea. For the month of July, we chose When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon.
This book has been all over the internet and both of us were so stoked to finally read it.
Dimple is an Indian girl who is constantly at war with her parents, who want her to find the "Ideal Indian Husband". After her parents allow her to attend a technology-based summer program with the opportunity to develop an app with a tech genius, Dimple thinks they may finally be on her side and give up on the IIH. Unbeknownst to her, Rishi, a very traditional Indian teen, is on his way to the same camp after being told he would be able to connect with his future wife. When Rishi approaches her with "Hello future wife!", Dimple throws an iced coffee in his face and runs away. And that is just the beginning.
This book not only tells a cute romantic story, but it also deals with fitting in, discovering yourself, and figuring out the role people play in their lives.
Dimple is constantly rebelling against the traditional Indian ideal, while Rishi is trying to be the perfect Indian son that he feels his parents expect of him. One of the things I really liked about this book was that it dealt with the conflict that comes from wanting to do what is expected and what you really want in life. Rishi loves art and comics but is going to school to become an engineer because he feels he must keep a sensible job and provide his family with the perfect Indian son, since his brother is more interested in girls, basketball, and is more "American-ized".
Now, onto the questions of the month!
1. Who do you identify more with, Dimple or Rishi?
I think I definitely identify with Rishi more. Not only am I a huge art/comic nerd, I also tend to think with my heart instead of my head. Obviously, Rishi is trying to do the sensible thing career and marriage-wise, but throughout the book, he tends to rely more on how he feels while Dimple tends to hold back in order to maintain order. The dinner scene was where I really felt connected to Rishi because when the douchey rich kids are being gross and racist, he sticks up for himself and Dimple without a second thought. Plus, he has some epic one-liners.
2. Dimple and Rishi attend a program to develop a new app. If you could design an app, what would it be?
I love Dimple's app idea. She chooses to develop a fun game for helping diabetics track their levels and medication, inspired by her father who struggles with diabetes. Since I am in a relationship with a diabetic, I see how difficult in can be to track their health, especially because it feels so ostracizing in our junk food obsessed world. If I could develop an app, I would like to develop an app that would connect two people with like-minded interests with each other through a co-op based strategy game. The app would provide extra rewards for good teamwork, and penalize for bad teamwork.
3. What was your favorite moment?
The Bollywood dance!! I loved that scene and was so excited for Dimple and Rishi to perform it. I looked up the song on YouTube to put me in the right mindset and then jammed out to it all night. The entire talent show was a huge emotional rollercoaster, because after being so excited, Rishi gets in a fight with the douchey guys and I was so scared he would get the team disqualified. Plus, gross sexism from douchey guys was gross.
4. Are you a hopeless romantic like Rishi?
Yes. YA has convinced me that meet-cutes are normal. Plus, I fell in love with my boyfriend the day I met him so I think I'm pretty hopeless. Luckily, he loved me back ;)
5. Was it worth the hype?
At first, I was having a hard time getting into the story, because Indian culture is so incredibly foreign to me. I felt kind of lost at the beginning, especially because I had no idea what some of the phrases meant and was having a hard time figuring out who was who. But this book was totally worth the hype. I adored it so much and give it 4/5 stars.
Did you read When Dimple Met Rishi? Leave your answers or a link to your blog post in the comments so I can check it out! Make sure to check out Becca's post as well!!
Follow me on Instagram (@raineedayze) to see what we read next and feel free to pour yourself a cup of tea with us!
Always, Raineedayze
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