When Dimple Met Rishi (2017) by Sandhya Menon

 “Precious” is the best word I can use to describe this book.

All Dimple wants is to go to a prestigious summer app development intensive, where she can hone her skills and work toward her future career. She’s shocked when her parents say yes, because usually her parents seem only concerned with finding her an “I.I.H.”: Ideal Indian Husband. Nothing could be further from the top of Dimple’s priority list. 

Rishi agrees to go to a summer app development program, because his parents tell him there he will meet his future wife: a girl named Dimple who his parents have chosen for him. Rishi believes in the traditional Indian values and the romantic nature of the long-term commitment of arranged marriages. He assumes Dimple is as aware of this arrangement as he is - and he can’t wait to start getting to know her.

This leads to a meet-cute that made me literally laugh out loud. When Dimple Met Rishi is what I want all YA rom-coms to be: actually funny, unique, believable, with characters you want to root for. This is told from the alternating perspectives of Dimple and Rishi, which I loved. I wished there was more about the coding/app element, because it disappeared for such large sections of the book that it was hard to believe that Dimple cared about it as much as she did - but this did not ruin the book for me. It is sweet, fun, funny, and absolutely worth a read. (Also, that cover makes me smile.)

The #BNDoGood2017 train had its first stop today at Yaba, where Girls Coding had its “December to Remember” event for underprivileged and displaced girls and their families.

Because every girl deserves to be happy, Girls Coding, an initiative that teaches girls how to code so as to set them up for a brighter future, sought to put smiles on their faces.

There was a special career talk/mentoring…

Originally posted as part of our Huffington Post blog series.

“A role model is a person whose serves as an example by influencing others,” says the American Academy of Adolescent Psychology (AAAP).

To see yourself somewhere, and in order to make it easier to set a future path, the most useful and motivating tool is a role model; they give inspiration and guidance. This is why role models are instrumental in getting more women into technology fields. It starts from girls.

While celebrity and known business people are the most obvious, and most attractive choice, an easily accessible, in-person role models are also good and useful to girls.

One of the main elements of the DNA at Vidcode is women in tech.Getting women and girls, who have traditionally been underrepresented in this area, into the field of tech and computer science is something that runs deep here, at our wholly female owned and operated tech company, and one way to do that is through role models that have made it into the tech fields.

While role models that have achieved a “celebrity” status are great, such as Karlie Kloss and Marissa Meyer, role models that can be interacted with are most effective for long term success in the field.

According to a study published in the medical journal, Psychology Women Quarterly “Both boys and girls may identify more with the role model whose success seems to be the most attainable—that is, the role model whose success is explained by efforts.”

The study also shows that “students identify more with a role model whose success in math is explained by hard work than with a role model whose success is explained as natural talent or whose success is not explained.”

This is why an in-person role model is important, as opposed to an out of reach celebrity.  The study’s findings also show that kids benefit more from a role model they can directly identify with, such as a female working in tech, for girls.

An Accenture study said “We can not emphasize enough the importance of role models in identifying women with leadership goals. Our findings show a strong correlation between having a role model and having C-Suite aspirations. “

But finding a role model for yourself or children might seem difficult. So how can you go about this?

A great way is for through clubs, groups or after school activities that are tech based. These groups will have someone in charge who is knowledgeable about the field and most likely has contacts in the industry. Also groups like big brother big sister, or cultural organizations often have professionals that volunteer to generally mentor or teach new skills. Ask for a volunteer that works in the tech industry.

The only thing holding you back from learning is yourself

Some stories are universal. Whether you’re South African or American… this is one of them. A reminder that the only thing holding you back from learning is yourself. Thank you Laurence for sharing with us! 

    Laurence Bradford hails from the United States but has spent the majority of the last few years living or traveling in Asia. When she’s not learning how to code, she works as a…