This is more than a story about loving someone, it’s about learning how to grow with love.Dimple and Rishi offer two different lenses through which to view the second-generation Indian American experience.

Both Dimple and Rishi are loveable characters because of the support that they show one another. Menon also does a wonderful job of not invalidating the way the characters feel just because there is a difference of opinion. Sandhya Menon captivates a diverse look at Indian American teenagers who are navigating their culture and growing up in the process. When Dimple Met Rishi exhibits that even with different perspectives about the way of life there can still be a level of understanding and appreciation for different ways of thinking. I loved how this novel exhibits how readers can advocate their thoughts like Dimple or believe in themselves like Rishi. The mistakes that they make can show readers that getting it wrong sometimes is okay as long as you are providing yourself room to learn from those mistakes.

It was also important for me to note that both characters stumble as they grow. It shows that safe spaces are created by the relationships we form. It is always a joy to see characters engage with one another and come to realize that they find safety in one another that is not so easily found with others. Despite this rocky start, the reader witnesses them working together when creating an app for the program. This would only end with a cup of coffee to the face because Dimple wants nothing to do with a relationship. Rishi himself agrees to go to the program with the expectations of meeting his match. Dimple is unaware that she is permitted to go not because of the educational value, but so that she can meet a potential husband. Due to this decides to take matters into her own hands by allowing Dimple to attend a web development program called Insomnia Con. Dimple’s mother believes that this tradition is important as well. Martial tradition is prevalent within the novel and while Rishi sees this as a gift Dimple views as something invasive. The two main protagonists Dimple and Rishi are both very intelligent, but their ideals of love are quite different. This is one of those stories that you can’t help but hope for a happy ending. When Dimple Met Rishi is a story of love, familial differences, and trying to pave your own path. “We need to shake this field up, you know? We need more people with different points of view and experiences and thought processes so we can keep innovating and moving ahead.”

When dimple met rishi book review