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I hate to call out comments twice in a row, but while I haven't been reading much lately, apparently I've been making up for it by scrolling through goodreads. Not a pastime I would recommend, by the way. Anyways, Sandhya Menon does this amazing thing where she gives out early copies of her book to South Asian bloggers, and her latest book - coming out summer 2018 - is called From Twinkle, with Love. I've been a huge fan of the author since her debut, When Dimple Met Rishi, because desi lit reads are far and between, and I rarely get the chance to connect so much with book characters. I thought I'd check out some goodreads comments just because, and boy was that a mistake.
Several of the comments dealt with the "obscure", "funny", "hippy-dippy" names of the main characters in Menon's books, i.e. Dimple and Twinkle. They complained about the names and asked if the author was starting a new trend. That's about when my bull horns came out and steam started emitting from my nostrils. Believe it or not, people, Dimple and Twinkle are actually both very common names in India. Menon herself has discussed this on twitter at least once. I personally had no idea that these were common names, and I am Indian, but you don't see me complaining and making a big deal out of it. And even if you are going to make something out of it, then please do your research and find out whether or not they're actual names or not. Literally all you have to do is type either Dimple or Twinkle and "name" into google and voilà , research.
There was one comment where a reader was ecstatic over the fact that the main character would have the same name as her, and oh, my heart. This is why we need diversity in books, people.
Second - and this was also mentioned by Menon over on twitter - is the sheer amount of people whining about how her books are terrible because the author doesn't bother to take the time to explain Indian culture in her books. Why are kids named the way they are, huh? Am I supposed to educate myself now? Yes, white people, yes you are. The very idea that diverse books are a vehicle through which white people can learn about other cultures is preposterous, and seriously so offensive. This mindset is not okay in the least. How entitled must one be to believe that the author is obligated to explain their culture to them?
The person who commented the thing above and made some racist comments also discussed how Dimple pushing/throwing coffee on Rishi because he was a complete stranger who called her his wife in the last book is violence and abuse. Similarly, she went on to say that the relationship "starting on a foundation of lies" in this book is problematic because Menon is empowering things that shouldn't be empowered. Umm...what? Did you have the same problem with How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, also built on a foundation of lies? Have you never heard of a meet-cute? Are we supposed to cuddle with strangers who declare their intent to marry us, now?
The final comment I'm about to mention probably isn't even offensive, but I can't even differentiate okay from not okay after the things I read before it. I quote: "Sahil is this weird guy in my class. This is gonna be fun." (The capital letters and punctation are my additions.) First of all, this is a very mean thing to say about anyone, so there's one point off. This same person also started her review with "STOP WITH THESE HORRENDOUS NAMES", so that's like another three points off.
People have so many irrelevant complaints, and they haven't even read the book yet. Remind me not to go through any more reviews after Twinkle comes out.
Oh this was such a brilliant post! People should definitely check themselves before making comments like these. My patience is wearing thin and I just might snap one day and go on a rampage commenting back one of these days xD Nah, in all seriousness though, it's HIGH TIME ppl started educating themselves instead of expecting to be spoon-fed every damn thing.
ReplyDeleteThank you!! Also yes, that's really well said. I wish people took a moment to think about what they're writing, but Twinkle's page is strewed with awful comments, unfortunately. If you ever do go on a commenting rampage, let me know - I'll bring popcorn.😆
DeleteI've checked the review section of Twinkle recently, as well, and I remember seeing most of these. I'm just... so angry?? The sheer ignorance and idiocy is too much. I'll admit that I didn't know that these were common names in India at first, and only learnt it later from the author's twitter. But I never went on a commenting spree bashing the names because *I* haven't heard them before. I mean, come on. Also, what if they weren't that common? No one complains when white characters are called weird names. Ffs, people are naming their kids Daenerys now. And, yes, like you said - if someone is so pressed about the names and unsure if they are "real names" or whatever, then google it for god's sake.
ReplyDeleteAlso, this whole "you have to explain the culture in detail" is such hypocritical bullshit. Not the best example, but I've never seen any author/book explaining the American uni system. AND NO ONE COMPLAINS. I tell you that if Sandhya Menon talked about the culture in great detail in Dimple, the same people would have complained about it. Sorry for the long comment. :)
Right?? And how can someone try to tell an author that their characters' names aren't okay? There was never a need for fictional names to be real, so you're no doubt right about these people complaining about something else even if Dimple did everything they wanted it to do. Unfortunately, it doesn't make their opinions any less gross.
DeleteAlso please don't apologize! You make some amazing points and I love your counterexamples!