When Dimple Met Rishi

Max reveals that Rishi and Dimple are partnered, because Rishi had requested Dimple on his application. Dimple tells Rishi the grand prize, and Rishi pretends to be a fan of Jenny Lindt. Dimple realizes he doesn’t know anything about Jenny Lindt, and she and Rishi separately ask Max if they can have a different partner. Max, “an honest-to-goodness hippie,” tells Dimple to roll with the punches (61).

Rishi tells Dimple her anger is misplaced, and Dimple explodes. She sputters that her parents only want her to find an Ideal Indian Husband, that the opportunity to work with Jenny Lindt is potentially life-changing, and that his presence simply reinforces how much her parents want her to be a “dutiful Indian daughter.” Dimple feels guilty for unloading on Rishi, but insists inwardly that she’ll never admit that out loud.

Rishi realizes that the stakes of Insomnia Con are much higher for Dimple than for him, but he also feels bad for his family, who put effort into arranging his meeting with Dimple. He offers to leave the conference at the end of the day so that Dimple can join a group of three, and Dimple agrees to the plan.

Max assigns the teams a photo scavenger hunt using a Polaroid camera and shares that the winners of the scavenger hunt will be awarded 10 extra points to their final score. Dimple and Rishi agree to do the scavenger hunt together. They set off with the prompts funny, Buddha, water, yellow, and blur. Dimple notices that Rishi’s T-shirt features a comic drawing of a young Indian boy wearing a kurta and holding a gada. When she asks Rishi about the shirt, he explains the drawing is an Indian superhero he invented, and Dimple is impressed with his skill and passion. When Rishi tells her he’s given up drawing because it’s merely a hobby, Dimple says she doesn’t understand and that Rishi should do something he loves. They arrive at Wanda’s World Treasures, where Rishi assures Dimple they’ll find Buddha.

Dimple loves Wanda’s World Treasures, a crowded flea market/antique store. She tries on a rhinestone headband that makes her look like a “turkey wearing jewelry” and Rishi takes her photo, which they wind up using for funny. Rishi points to an eight-foot-tall Buddha statue and Dimple reaches to take the camera from him, accidentally pulling him closer to her by the camera’s neck strap. Dimple feels attracted to Rishi’s eyes, which remind her of old apothecary bottles.

They take care of the water clue by buying water bottles, and Rishi teases her by spraying drops of water on her. Dimple takes a photo and they laugh, and she realizes Rishi is sort of fun. Rishi accomplishes the yellow and blur clues with a photo of a yellow cable car. Dimple notices his Gucci watch and wonders if the Patels’ wealth is part of why her parents chose Rishi, but then she feels ashamed at the thought. After their fun day, Dimple has a change of heart and tells Rishi to stay and be her partner for Insomnia Con.

The pairs display their Polaroids and Dimple feels self-conscious, especially about the photo of her in the headband. A pair of boys make a rude comment about Dimple’s appearance and Rishi gets angry, but Dimple tells him reacting just makes it worse. Rishi asks if they’ve bothered her before, and Dimple says that things like that happen often because she’s not conventionally pretty (which Rishi questions) and she likes tech.

Max compliments Dimple’s and Rishi’s photos, noting the sense of camaraderie between them, and he comments that their “spirits are already friends” (80). Dimple concedes that Max might have a point. She realizes that though she’s often bullied or made to feel like an outsider with other boys, Rishi makes her feel safe. She wonders if they’re becoming friends. They make plans to meet at the pizza place to work on their app concept, and Dimple notices she doesn’t hate the thought of spending more time with him.

At the dorm, Celia gushes about her partner, Evan, and his friend Hari. She feels like she’ll fit in with them and with their friend Isabelle. Dimple doesn’t tell Celia that Evan and Hari are the two boys who made fun of her. Instead, she says the boys seem superficial, and Celia assures her they aren’t. Celia invites Dimple and Rishi to dinner with the four of them and then says she has to run home to see her grandma. Rishi agrees to have dinner with “the Aberzombies” and picks Dimple up at her dorm room. Dimple observes that he looks like he’s on a date, and Rishi is glad he didn’t bring a flower. She finds it endearing that Rishi is so himself and doesn’t play games.

On the way to dinner, Dimple explains her app concept: She wants to develop a reward-based app that helps people with diabetes manage their health routines. Rishi loves the idea. He asks why they’re going to dinner with Evan, Hari, and Isabelle, and Dimple explains that by spending time with them, she hopes they won’t bother her again. The truth is that she’s afraid to have dinner with them and feels grateful Rishi is joining her.

Rishi notices that Dimple seems uneasy, and he wishes she’d turned down the invitation. The restaurant is extremely fancy, and Dimple feels underdressed and knows she can’t afford the cost. Rishi offers to pay, but Dimple rejects the offer. After the hostess seats them, Rishi finds the server and arranges to anonymously pay for the whole table’s meals in advance.

Celia texts saying she’ll be half an hour late, and Evan, Hari, and Isabelle arrive, talking loudly and wearing expensive preppy clothes. Isabelle is rude, and Hari corrects Dimple’s pronunciation of his name, insisting it’s Harry, even though Dimple knows it’s pronounced with a rolled r, more like Hurry. Evan says he’s been to third world countries on missions and that they have a particular smell, which he asks Dimple to confirm. Dimple says she doesn’t remember, and thinks to herself that “conversations like these make her feel so other” (99). She begins to wish she hadn’t come to dinner.