55 pages • 1 hour read
Sandhya MenonWhen Dimple Met Rishi
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 37-42Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 37 Summary
A few days later, Max announces a talent show to mark the halfway point of Insomnia Con, the winners of which will receive a $1,000 prize. Dimple tells Rishi she’s researched past winners of the show, and she thinks they’ll have a good chance of winning if they do a Bollywood dance. Rishi is surprised, but Dimple says her part will be small, and Rishi’s part will be the focus. After some hesitation Rishi agrees, and Dimple plays him the song they’ll dance to: “Dil Na Diya” from the movie Krrish. While they listen to the song, Dimple hears Celia yelling at Evan, and then Celia angrily leaves the lecture hall.
Chapter 38 Summary
Dimple follows Celia to the hallway, where Celia reveals Evan and Hari want to do a dance with Celia and Isabelle to a song, “Sexy Heat,” that makes Celia uncomfortable. Dimple reassures Celia that she’s not being overly sensitive and invites Celia to eat dinner with her and Rishi that night. Celia appreciates Dimple’s invitation.
Later, Dimple and Rishi practice their dance, and she’s alarmed to find that he’s a terrible dancer. They laugh, and he assures her they’ll practice enough to win. Rishi suggests Dimple jump into his arms during part of the dance, and when she tries, they collapse in a heap. They have just begun to kiss when a male voice interrupts them.
Chapter 39 Summary
The voice belongs to Ashish, who has surprised Rishi with a visit, dressed in athletic shorts and sneakers. Ashish explains he got a ride with a friend because their parents were driving him nuts. Rishi is embarrassed that Ashish would speak negatively about their parents in front of Dimple. Dimple explains that they’re rehearsing a dance for the talent show and Ashish offers to help, saying he’s a good dancer. Rishi rejects his offer, and Ashish excuses himself to go downstairs.
Dimple is surprised how different Ashish seems from Rishi, and she tells Rishi they need all the help they can get. Rishi calls his parents and learns his parents didn’t know where Ashish was. Rishi goes to find Ashish and Dimple waits in his room, because they have to continue practicing their dance.
Chapter 40 Summary
While Dimple waits for Rishi and Ashish to return, she muses over how different the brothers are, how Ashish “seemed more like he could be Dimple’s little brother than Rishi’s” (249). Meeting Ashish also helps Dimple see why Rishi feels such strong duty to his parents, though she feels angry on his behalf: “Why was it Rishi’s responsibility to keep their parents happy while Ashish got to do whatever he wanted?” (249).
Dimple notices Rishi’s sketchbook in his messenger bag and looks through it. The sketchbook has more than three years of sketches, and Dimple marvels over the development of Rishi’s talent and his character Aditya. In later sketches, drawn before Dimple and Rishi even meet, Aditya has started dating a girl with wild curly hair, which causes Dimple to wonder again about kismet. She notices there are fewer recent sketches, and she worries his art is disappearing. She takes six photos of the latest sketches of Aditya before Ashish and Rishi return.
Ashish and Rishi argue, and Dimple has “a sinking feeling they had no idea she was there and that she was witnessing a very, very private fight” (252). Rishi calls Ashish selfish and urges him to respect their parents; Ashish insists their parents are overbearing. Dimple’s phone rings in the middle of the argument, and she briefly chats with Celia to arrange dinner plans, telling Celia to meet her at Rishi’s room. Rishi tells Ashish he’ll drive him home, and as they begin to argue again, Dimple cries, “That’s enough!”
Chapter 41 Summary
Dimple proposes a plan to keep practicing, eat dinner together, and then Rishi and Ashish can more calmly come up with a plan. Ashish agrees, offering to videotape them like he does for his basketball games. When they look at the video of Rishi and Dimple dancing, Ashish points out Dimple is the real talent and should have a larger part. Dimple is too nervous at the idea of dancing by herself in front of a crowd, but Ashish says he has an idea. He continues to videotape them, and Rishi is amazed at how dedicated and selfless his brother is being. He is also moved by how Dimple and Ashish get along. Dimple leaves to take a shower, and Rishi thanks his brother for the help. Ashish tells him Dimple is cool and he hopes they win the dance contest.
Chapter 42 Summary
Alone in the lobby, Dimple rereads an email she drafted to Leo Tilden. In her email, she reminds Leo of Rishi and his costume at Little Comic Con. She explains that Rishi’s art is who he is and that Rishi’s afraid of his art “consuming him.” She describes Aditya and attaches her photos of Rishi’s sketches, as well as Rishi’s email address, and sends the email to Leo.
Rishi and Ashish meet Dimple in the lobby. They wonder where Celia is, and Dimple wonders if she might’ve gotten back together with Evan. They head outside into the foggy night for dinner. Rishi notes that when Dimple is around, Ashish doesn’t bother him as much.
Chapters 37-42 Analysis
The talent show announcement raises the stakes for the Insomnia Con conference, especially for Dimple. She proves herself again to be resourceful, driven, and inclined toward STEM when she reveals she’s run statistics on past talent-show winners. Dancing in front of each other is a new kind of vulnerability for both Dimple and Rishi. The song they select, “Dil Na Diya” from the Bollywood movie Krrish, is a celebration of their Indian culture. In a metatextual moment, the two characters’ recreation of the dance makes When Dimple Met Rishi a participant in the long tradition of dance and musical numbers in Bollywood films. While Dimple and Rishi are able to agree on a dance number they’re both comfortable with, Celia feels pressured by her group to participate in an exploitive and misogynistic dance number that makes her uncomfortable.
Dimple’s and Rishi’s relationship deepens again with the appearance of Ashish. Seeing the brothers’ conflict in real time helps Dimple more fully understand Rishi’s attachment to tradition and the sense of duty he feels toward his parents, and her anger on his behalf reveals the depth of their connection. At the same time, Dimple acknowledges the parallels between her and Ashish. Because Dimple is connected to both brothers—similar in disposition to Ashish and in a relationship with Rishi—she’s able to serve as a bridge, mediating their conflict and finding a way for all three of them to work together effectively. Indeed, thanks to Dimple’s plan, Rishi observes and appreciates Ashish’s selflessness and dedication to helping Dimple and Rishi recreate the Bollywood dance.
Dimple’s snooping through Rishi’s sketches and subsequently sending them to Leo Tilden without Rishi’s knowledge occupies a moral gray area. On the one hand, she sends the email because she believes in Rishi so deeply and knows he has the talent to succeed as a comic book artist; on the other hand, she violates both his privacy and his wishes. In her email, Dimple also draws a distinction between passion and something even more powerful. For her, coding is a passion, but for Rishi, art is “so beyond that—it’s who he is. It’s part of him; ink and blood flow together through his body” (261).
