No Dating Till You're Married

She was told no dating. Now everyone wants her married. Same rules. Completely different game.Meet Aria Kohli, first-generation Indian-American, commitment-phobe, and the only person in her friend group not planning a wedding. Every Thursday, debut author Leela Rani Dua reads a chapter from her novel: a cross-cultural rom-com about Indian family expectations, millennial adulthood, and a friends-with-benefits situation that's getting very complicated. Think Gilmore Girls meets Crazy Rich Asians.Shortlisted for the Mo Siewcharran Prize 2019. All episodes available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you listen. Start from the beginning, you'll want to.

Indian-American audiobook podcast novel | Gilmore Girls meets Crazy Rich AsiansThe story begins. Aria Kohli is first-generation Indian-American, living her carefully curated millennial life, good job, great friends, and a situationship she's not examining too closely. Her parents told her no dating till she's married. She's fine with that. Except now everyone around her is getting married, and the rules are suddenly changing.Debut author Leela Rani Dua reads Chapter 1 of her coming-of-age rom-com. New episodes every Thursday.

Indian-American audiobook podcast novel | Cross-cultural coming-of-age rom-comBefore the weddings, the marriage profiles, and the situationship getting out of hand, there was 1996, a best friendship, and the kind of bond that shapes everything that comes after. We flash back to meet Hayleigh, Aria's BFF, and where it all started. Because every story about who you become begins with who was there first.

Indian-American audiobook podcast novel | Arranged marriage drama meets millennial rom-comAria, Hayleigh, and the whole crew are out shopping for Hayleigh's wedding dress. Which sounds fun. It mostly is. But when you're the only one in the group without a ring, wedding prep has a quiet way of asking questions you weren't ready to answer.First-gen problems. Best friend goals. The wedding season that changes everything.

Indian-American audiobook podcast novel | Cross-cultural coming-of-age storyAway from the weddings, the family expectations, and the situationship she's definitely not overthinking, there's Aria at work. A rare glimpse into the one corner of her life she actually has under control. Or at least, mostly. Every millennial needs one thing that's theirs. This is hers.

Indian-American audiobook podcast novel | Best-friends-to-lovers slow-burn romanceThe gang gathers for happy hour. Drinks, catching up, the comfortable ease of a friend group that's known each other long enough to skip the small talk entirely. It's lighter than what's coming. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Indian-American audiobook podcast novel | 90s nostalgia meets millennial 2020sA double dose this week. First, we flash back to 1998 — AP Bio, Juicy Couture debates, and the particular high-school drama that only makes sense in retrospect. Then we're back in the 2020s, where Hayleigh's wedding prep continues to consume everything.Two timelines. One story. The 90s girl and the millennial woman she became.

Indian-American audiobook podcast novel | Bollywood flashbacks, arranged marriage drama, millennial 2020sTwo timelines, one episode. First, New Delhi 1978 — Sunita, long before she was anyone's mother, and a Bollywood classic love story setting the scene. Then back to present-day Virginia, where the Kohli cousins are out for cocktails, tater tots, and the kind of conversation that always finds its way back to weddings. Because in a desi family, it always finds its way back to weddings.

Indian-American audiobook podcast novel | Cross-cultural coming-of-age, millennial friendshipsWe're jumping timelines again. First, 1991 and Totino's pizza rolls. Then the millennial present, a country club lunch with Lucy, Hayleigh, and Aria, where the conversation moves between dating, wild nights out, and the particular chaos of having boomer parents who think they know best. Aria's South Asian family and the looming big Indian wedding are never far from the conversation.