Dating Dr. Dil （If Shakespeare was an Auntie #1）
Nisha Sharma
Dedication
For the women who have been told to lower their standards.
I hope you never do.
Epigraph
There’s small choice in rotten apples.
—Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew Every apple has a little bit of bruising. It’s up to you to add lemon juice and masala, so you can’t taste the difference. The key is to get yourself some fruit.
—Mrs. W. S. Gupta, Indians Abroad News
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Epigraph
Chapter One: Kareena
Interstitial
Chapter 2: Kareena
Chapter Three: Prem
Chapter Four: Kareena
Interstitial
Chapter Five: Prem
Chapter Six: Prem
Interstitial
Chapter 7: Kareena
Interstitial
Chapter Eight: Prem
Chapter Nine: Kareena
Interstitial
Chapter Ten: Prem
Chapter Eleven: Kareena
Chapter Twelve: Prem
Interstitial
Chapter Thirteen: Kareena
Chapter Fourteen: Prem
Chapter Fifteen: Kareena
Chapter Sixteen: Prem
Interstitial
Chapter Seventeen: Kareena
Interstitial
Chapter Eighteen: Prem
Chapter Nineteen: Kareena
Chapter Twenty: Prem
Interstitial
Chapter Twenty-One: Kareena
Interstitial
Chapter Twenty-Two: Prem
Chapter Twenty-Three: Kareena
Chapter Twenty-Four: Prem
Interstitial
Chapter Twenty-Five: Kareena
Interstitial
Chapter Twenty-Six: Prem
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Prem
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Kareena
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Kareena
Chapter Thirty: Prem
Chapter Thirty-One: Kareena
Chapter Thirty-Two: Prem
Chapter Thirty-Three: Kareena
Chapter Thirty-Four: Prem
Chapter Thirty-Five: Kareena
Epilogue
Prem & Rina’s Taylor Swift Playlist
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Announcement
Praise for Nisha Sharma
Also by Nisha Sharma
Copyright
About the Publisher
Chapter One
Kareena
5:45 a.m.
Kareena: You are the reigning queen of rice! “Make your own biryani” bar? I mean it’s genius. As your lawyer, I’m telling you that you have to trust me on this. You’ll get the loan.
Nina: Are you sure? I’m so nervous!
Kareena: I’m sure. I’ll meet you at the bank later today.
Nina: I’m so glad I hired you and Women Who Work! You’re really going to make my restaurant expansion dream a reality.
Nina: Sorry the bank had to schedule this on your thirtieth birthday, though. I can’t believe you’re general counsel of an incredible company at such a young age!
Nina: I mean, I was married, had my firstborn and my restaurant by thirty, but that’s different. I WANTED a husband and family.
Kareena: See you in a couple hours, Nina.
Kareena tore the eye mask off her forehead and straightened her Taylor Swift concert sleep shirt. She had secured her dream job at a company that developed women-owned businesses in the tristate area before her thirtieth birthday. But of course, one text from a client and her boss energy dissipated like mist. She tossed her phone on the rumpled bedspread and rubbed her hands over her face.
She was thirty and single.
No, no, thirty and successful.
Thirty and financially independent.
Thirty and . . . still lived with her dad and grandmother.
And single. Very, very single.
Without even a maintenance man to grease the plumbing.
If she had a time machine, she would’ve gone back to her last relationship in law school and said: Sweetie, giving up dating until you achieve your career goals may not be the best idea. Especially if you’re searching for a happily ever after with a man. It becomes way too easy to be alone.
Kareena felt like her family, her aunties—hell, the entire New Jersey South Asian population—had been preparing her for being thirty and single, but did she listen? Nope. More importantly, did she really have to be reminded first thing in the morning?
Like T-Swizz said. Damn. It was only seven a.m.
“I should’ve taken today off,” she mumbled as she crawled out of bed and walked toward the adjoining bathroom.
Even as she showered and mentally reviewed her schedule for the day, the misogynist adages she’d heard whispered at cultural gatherings echoed through her head.
If you’re single at thirty, you have to lower your standards. If you’re single at thirty, your prospects for a happily ever after are diminished. If you’re single at thirty, you are perceived as difficult, and no one will want to marry you.