When Dimple Met Rishi

“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.

“Nestled inside was a ring made out of gold so pure it looked almost orange. […] His expression was solemn, like he was holding something that could shape fortunes and mold destinies. […] This wasn’t just an arranged marriage to Rishi; this was the rich fabric of history, stretched through time and space.”

Rishi’s great-grandmother’s engagement ring symbolizes the importance of Indian tradition and Rishi’s connection to history. He reverently holds the ring and treats it as an all-powerful object that can shape fortunes. The reference to destiny foreshadows Rishi’s and Dimple’s later wonderings about kismet.

“And it wasn’t just that he took things so seriously when it came to being a good son or following the path his parents had so carefully laid down for him. It was something inside him that felt different. Off. Like he never truly showed the world who he was except when he was making art.”

Although some of Rishi’s difficulties with feeling like an alien stem from his devotion to tradition, this quotation suggests that his inability to fit in is actually something larger and more intrinsic to who he is. Rishi feels most himself when he is making art, showing the importance of his comics and sketches. If he stopped making art, Rishi would be missing a significant facet of his identity.

“His eyes reminded her of old apothecary bottles, deep brown, when the sunlight hit them and turned them almost amber. Dimple loved vintage things. […] So it was a kind of magic, being here in this antiques store with a boy whose eyes were just the right shade of honey.”

This quotation expands Dimple’s personality by showing that she appreciates vintage things. She sees beauty in the past, and in this moment, she connects that beauty to Rishi’s eyes. Although Dimple is prone to logic, her feeling that being in the store is a kind of magic is lyrical, even whimsical—an observation likely triggered by her developing feelings for Rishi.

“With her relentless pursuit of freedom, she’d never actually stopped to think about what the day-to-day of it might be like. […] If Dimple were home, Mamma would be bustling around, cleaning the kitchen while Dimple sat at the counter nearby and drank her tea.”

A conversation with Rishi forces Dimple to consider the limitations of her “relentless pursuit of freedom” and reevaluate her position. Although she and her mother have their difficulties, talking with Rishi allows Dimple to see Mamma with compassion, even longing. Rather than dismissing Rishi, Dimple allows herself to be changed by his influence.

“I haven’t been to India since I was twelve; the tickets are too expensive for my parents. But even when I did, the thing I remember most is feeling like I didn’t belong. […] I was still the outsider, and still strange, and I still didn’t belong.”

Here, Dimple describes the predicament of the “third culture kid,” people who grow up in a culture different from that of their parents. Dimple struggles to fit in the United States because of her Indian heritage, but she also struggled to fit in Mumbai because she was viewed as American. As a result, she grew up feeling isolated—unlike Rishi, who feels like an Indian American in the United States and like an Indian in India. This quotation also mentions Dimple’s family’s socioeconomic status. At least partly because her family has fewer opportunities to travel to India, Dimple feels less connected to the country and the culture.

“Distance was the promise of safety. Without distance, Rishi knew the inexorable love for his art, for creation, would suck him in and never let go.”

This quotation shows both Rishi’s passion for art and his fear that making art will take over his life. Attending MIT is a way to please his parents and play the role of a dutiful son, but it’s also a powerful way to keep art at bay.

“Rishi had a gift. A serious gift that he didn’t seem to like to share with people. Dimple knew why now… it was so intimate. He became someone else, stripped down, unself-conscious, unaware. She’d seen what his soul was made of. And she’d liked it.”

Rishi’s participation in the sketch-off marks a critical moment in the development of his and Dimple’s relationship. Dimple is struck by the intimacy of watching Rishi draw, both because he doesn’t share his sketches with other people and because she sees an essential part of himself that he usually keeps hidden. The word soul calls to mind soulmate as well as Max’s earlier assessment that Dimple’s and Rishi’s spirits were already friends.

“He’d bought books that meant something to her and to him. She knew she should discourage him. She also knew she didn’t want to. If this was how Rishi Patel showed his interest in her, if this was him wooing her, she wanted more.”

Dimple and Rishi connect in many different ways in the novel: through coding, Bollywood dancing, Rishi’s art, and their shared experience of growing up Indian in the United States. Here, Rishi’s meaningful gift of books is another way they connect. For Dimple, his gift creates an even stronger internal conflict: She’s pleased by his thoughtfulness while also intent on discouraging his advances.

“The more he drew, the more his expression became intent, focused, consumed. He wasn’t sitting there next to her anymore, she knew. He looked up every so often, but he didn’t really see her as Dimple. The thought was strangely disquieting, like she didn’t really know him. Rishi the artist and Rishi Patel, whom was she on a date with—were they the same person?”

Rishi’s connection to his art is so powerful that drawing appears to be an out-of-body experience. He is so consumed by his art-making that Dimple feels he’s absent and far away. Though Dimple feels like she understands Rishi better when she watches him draw, she also fears that he becomes less understandable and almost like a completely different person.

“Getting married is important to me. Giving my parents grandkids someday is important. Taking care of them in their old age, ditto. […] But you’re showing me that other things are important too. The point of dating you, Dimple Shah, is to get to know you.”

Though Rishi deeply values tradition, he also shows himself here to be flexible, open to change, and willing to compromise. He does not force his values on Dimple.

“Ashish was probably such a handful that Rishi wanted to smooth things over, make things better for his parents. But that’s not fair, Dimple found herself thinking, her temper flaring. Why was it Rishi’s responsibility to keep their parents happy while Ashish got to do whatever he wanted? Why did it become Rishi’s job by default to be unfailingly dutiful and obedient just because his little brother wasn’t?”

For Dimple, seeing Ashish and Rishi interact explains many aspects of Rishi’s personality. Seeing how Ashish marches to the beat of his own drum allows her to more fully comprehend the pressure Rishi feels to be unfailingly dutiful and obedient. She feels angry on his behalf, demonstrating how strongly Dimple feels about Rishi and how badly she wants him to be able to pursue his passion.

“He hadn’t seen his little brother this engaged in something that had nothing to do with basketball in years. He’d never seen Ashish so pumped about something that would net him nothing. He was acting… selfless.”

Rishi and Ashish have a complicated relationship, and here, Rishi is surprised to see Ashish selflessly helping Dimple and Rishi perfect their Bollywood dance. Later, Rishi realizes he’s often judgmental of his brother and wonders whether he’s been overly critical of Ashish. Ashish’s willingness to help Dimple and Rishi shows his devotion and loyalty to Rishi, even though they don’t always get along.

“I’m a coder; I love everything to do with coding and technology. It’s 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. And that’s what scares him. He thinks he loves his art too much. He’s afraid of it consuming him.”

Dimple’s email to Leo Tilden shows a profound understanding of Rishi’s relationship to his art. Emailing Leo without Rishi’s knowledge or consent, however, is a violation of Rishi’s trust that occupies a moral gray area. Ironically, Dimple’s perceptive assessment of Rishi’s relationship with his art—that he fears he loves his art too much—could also be applied to Dimple’s concerns about her relationship with Rishi. She later breaks up with him because she’s afraid of loving Rishi too much.

“Even if we put aside the lie—which I don’t think we should—there’s still the matter of this relationship, which you never wanted in the first place. Do you honestly think this is ever going to be a casual thing? For you or for Rishi? Are you ready for this? Really ready?”

After she and Rishi decide to try a long-distance relationship, Dimple’s internal thoughts are fraught with doubt. The intensity of the relationship gives her pause, especially when she considers her stated goals, such as focusing on her career and not being distracted by romance or her mother’s search for an “Ideal Indian Husband.”

“He had a tough start to his life, but he never talks it about. Mamma told me that apparently his dad used to drink and go into these rages. His mom, my daadi, would purposely anger him so that he’d beat her and spare Papa. […] Papa is this soft, gentle soul, you know?”

Here, Dimple talks about her father’s childhood in India living with an abusive, alcoholic father. Dimple’s love for her father is apparent, especially when she refers to him as a “soft, gentle soul.” Sharing their parents’ stories is another point of connection for Dimple and Rishi.

“I don’t know; she’s your mom, you know. I feel like if you were really hurting or really needed her, she’d be there for you without question. And maybe there’s a part of her she hasn’t shared with you yet that’s totally not what you expect.”

Rishi’s comments about Dimple’s relationship with her mother demonstrate maturity, perspective, and empathy. This passage also foreshadows the meaningful conversation Dimple has with her mother after she and Rishi break up, in which her mother provides unexpected comfort and solace while Dimple is in pain.

“Whether she liked it or not, she did think of her parents when she wanted to make big decisions. They mattered to her, however much she wished it weren’t true.”

Dimple acknowledges that she does always consider her parents, as much as she insists on maintaining her independence from them. At its core, Dimple’s relationship with her family is loving and supportive, and she benefits immensely from that privilege, even when she feels constrained by some of her parents’ wishes.

“The truth is… I’ve always been slightly envious of you. You’ve always been so sure of yourself, of what you want, even if it wasn’t anything Ma or Pappa ever encouraged. […] I’ve always envied that courage.”

Rishi apologizes to Ashish for judging him harshly over the years and reveals that he’s envied Ashish’s confidence and ability to carve his own path. In that way, Ashish and Dimple are alike. When Dimple later breaks up with Rishi, she tells him he lacks courage, the very quality he admires here in Ashish.

“He was a savings account. Dimple was eighteen. She didn’t need a savings account. She needed adventure and spontaneity and travel. She needed to make a few bad decisions and have a few boys break her heart. […] So how had she gotten mired in the same pit of domesticity as her parents?”

Dimple doubts her relationship with Rishi, referring to him as “a savings account,” a hyperbolic way of emphasizing his practicality and stability. Dimple so fears falling into the “pit of domesticity” that she pushes Rishi away, in spite of her deep love for him. She negates her true feelings in favor of imagining the wild and impetuous youth she believes she should have.

“She wept for the moments that she and Rishi would never have. […] There was either work or love. Wanting both felt like a huge ask; it felt like wishing for hot ice cream or a bitter sugar cube. And so she’d pushed Rishi away. She’d broken his heart and decimated her own.”

In this moment, Dimple finally gives in to a huge display of emotion commensurate with the heartbreak she feels over losing Rishi. What’s more, she acknowledges being the agent of her own destruction. Dimple also articulates a tension between work and love and the difficulties that can come with trying to manage a career and a romantic relationship.

“‘Whatever you do, Dimple, I am your mother. I will always support you. I am always proud of you. Okay?’ She handed the haldi doodh over.”

Although Dimple spends most of the novel believing her mother wants her to be someone else or doesn’t approve of her decisions, here Mamma contradicts those ideas by offering Dimple her love, support, and pride. Mamma might often focus on makeup and relationships, but here she shows a different side—just as Rishi predicted she might. The gift of haldi doodh, a turmeric milk, symbolically paints her as a nurturing mother.