When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon (Book Review)

 

It's not we who find love, it's the other way around!

WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI...so many things happen -- fight, hatred, hope, friendship, kismat's game and finally love. This beautiful romantic-comedy takes us to a whimsical world where love is in the air. The author, Sandhya Menon has skilfully characterized the couple - Rishi and Dimple who are the two sides of the same coin and entirely different in their characters, personalities, likes and dislikes. 

Dimple Shah, an eighteen year old Indian girl living in the US, wants to win "Insomnia Con." an initiative held in Stanford, so that she can make her dream app come to reality with the help of her idol -- Jenny Lindt. Things are not easy though, she has to convince her father to eke out money and her mother to let her stay away from her desperate search for Ideal Indian Husband (IIH). It's a stroke of luck that they allow her to participate, which Dimple can barely believe. 

Rishi Patel on the other hand is a boy of Dimple's age and a skilful manga artist. Being a man of practicality and loyalty towards his parents, he puts his artistic intentions on the back burner and plans to be enrolled in MIT. 

Not just about career even their perspectives about life, love and family are different. Dimple -- a girl of free will is totally a misogamist. She hates the very idea of beautifying one's self and attracting a man to be a part of her life. She rather believes in chasing her dreams and always stands for her self and hates her mother's Ideal Indian Husband (IIH) theory and advice. 

Rishi on the other hand is a practical boy who wants to have a perfect match who will beautify his life. Besides, he values the legacies of his culture and wants not to disappoint his parents. He attends Insomnia Con, hoping to meet his future wife -- Dimple Shah, whom his parents have chosen for him. The entire novel revolves around Insomnia Con -- how Dimple and Rishi meet in a weird ambience; how they are paired as team members; and how Dimple's wrath turns to friendship,adoration, and gradually to love -- the endless commitment. 

During the short span of Insomnia Con, they come to understand each other's dreams and love each other's passions and aspirations. Dimple fuels Rishi to take a huge step towards his dream to become a cartoonist by mailing his sketches without his knowledge to Rishi's idol -- Leo Tilden and Rishi supports Dimple by convincing Jenny Lindt about Dimple's determination to work with her and thereby enables her to get a chance to work with Dimple's idol -- Jenny Lindt. 

Alongside, we get to know about Ashish, Rishi's brother who is in sharp contrast to Rishi in every aspect -- being a rebel, standing for whatever he wishes without worrying about his parents' concerns. ("There's Something About Sweetie" is its companion novel which deals with Ashish' love story) 

"When Dimple Met Rishi" is totally a convincing read. The readers can feel the very same way in which the characters of the novel feel -- frustrated, moonstruck, hated, betrayed, convinced and finally elated. No wonder that this brilliant story has been made into a web series, "Mismatched" on Netflix and watched by masses. 

Being a reader, I prefer binge reading to binge watching. Sandhya Menon's diction is lucid and relatable. The segments that still linger in my mind are...

• When Dimple's mother advises her to wear makeup and colourful, vibrant dresses to be like a dhesi girl, Dimple ignores that and thinks it to be unfair to judge a girl by mere appearance rather than by her calibres and potentials.
• When Dimple met Rishi for the first time, he greets her "Hello, future wife". Which makes no sense to Dimple than to let her fling the iced coffee at him. 
• When Dimple's mother advises, "aren’t you sacrificing now? Either Rishi or career, this is the way you see it. But to me it seems cutting off either is like cutting off a part of yourself." and makes Dimple see that she can't live without either. And she can strike a balance between love and career.