Fall 2021: Wild Readers Group 5 discussion

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon, is a love story about two Indian-American teens who meet at a convention in San Francisco at SFSU, for online applications or “apps.” The two characters have just graduated High School and it is the summer before they are leaving for college. Dimple is focused on school but her mom wants her to find a husband. Rishi is a romantic who is willing to attend the convention to meet his future wife, Dimple. The main characters are trying to navigate what they want to do with their future and their feelings for one another.
Overall, I loved reading this book and could not set it down. I wanted to know what was going to happen next and if my intuition was correct. I enjoyed the book because of the love story between Dimple and Rishi. I knew they liked each other from the beginning but Dimple was very stubborn about those feelings. Rishi was trying to be romantic and win her over. What I enjoyed about the book was how the author incorporated her culture to the book. For example, when Dimple and Rishi communicate with their parents, they speak Indian. Dimple’s mom insisted that she find the “ideal Indian husband” and her parents even arranged a future marriage for her when she was only 18 years old. Dimple always wore a Kurta when she would go out, which is like a tunic that is worn in Southeast Asia. Lastly, the characters incorporated a Bollywood dance to the programs talent show. The ending was great and left me feeling happy. I noticed there are 2 more books for this series, and I will definitely read them out in the future.