When Dimple Met Rishi

“It was like they were constantly speaking two different languages, each trying to convince the other in an alien lexicon. Why couldn’t Mamma make the smallest effort to understand where Dimple was coming from? Did she really think Dimple had nothing valuable to contribute besides her looks?”

This quotation depicts the complicated relationship between Dimple and her mother and shows Dimple’s frustration with Mamma. Whereas Dimple is interested in learning tech and advancing her career, Mamma longs for Dimple to wear makeup and be more stereotypically feminine. Although Dimple is annoyed with her mother, she also fears that she’s a disappointing Indian daughter, an idea that Mamma refutes toward the end of the novel.

“Rishi’s life would be on track. Everything would fall into place. He’d go to MIT; maybe she’d transfer there or somewhere close by. They could hang out, date for a couple years through college and maybe grad school, and then get married. He’d take care of Dimple, and she’d take care of him. And a few years after that […] they’d make his parents grandparents.”

Here, Rishi’s practical personality shines through even in his fantasy life. Rather than let his imagination run completely wild, Rishi envisions a predictable and stable future for himself and Dimple. For Rishi, their relationship would be, at its core, a fundamental way to honor his parents, suggested by the thought, “they’d make his parents grandparents.” Ironically, although Rishi’s fantasy life is stable and predictable, it is a happy fairy-tale ending, demonstrating his desire for a romantic love story.

“They were so fundamentally different. And to Ashish, he was just some weird relic, something that belonged in their parents’ time in India, not here in modern America. Maybe this is the beginning of us growing apart, Rishi thought, and his head hurt.”

This quotation reveals Rishi’s anxiety about being so traditional, especially in terms of how others his age perceive him. Though he’s confident and personable, he worries that his traditional views contribute to his feelings of isolation and lack of belonging. Although Rishi’s and Ashish’s relationship is contentious, Rishi’s headache and fear that he could lose his brother suggest that Rishi values Ashish and wants to be close to him.