Das Lalita-Problem

In the evening, as Sheldon gets annoyed about a wallet which he ordered online, Raj comes to visit with his parents. His parents, however are only present via video-chat. After Raj's parents and his friends are introduced to each other, Raj's parents reveal that they have found a wife for him. The chosen one is Lalita, a dentist-to-be. After a heated discussion, Raj explains to his parents what an arranged marriage holds for him and that he refuses to accept it. His parents' opinion, however, is that he should first meet with her, and for this reason they have already given her his number. On the following day he already has a voice message on his cellphone and is beside himself again. Since it is well known that Raj can't speak with women, Howard does him a favor, calls Lalita back and agrees to meet directly. As the phone call ends and Raj worries more and more, Penny comes in through the door and says that now she also has to stand behind the bar in the Cheesecake Factory and she has to practice mixing cocktails. After Raj has the first drink, out of the blue, he starts talking with Penny and tells her about his worries. Thus the date between Lalita and Raj is to take place at the Cheesecake Factory, so that Penny can keep an eye out for him. However Penny's help doesn't change much because Raj behaves obnoxiously under the influence of alcohol which brings Lalita to the conclusion that Raj is not only dull, but also a drunkard that no woman should be acquainted with under any circumstances.

Later in the evening Sheldon also comes to the Cheesecake Factory. He is completely surprised as he takes a look at the show. The woman sitting with Raj is in his eyes no less than a princess from an Indian fairy tale, which it had been often read to him in his childhood. It is precisely this memory which drives Sheldon to overwhelm the girl with compliments and praise when Raj introduces Lalita to his friends. Raj is overcome by jealousy caused by all the sweet talk and tries to put Sheldon in his place. When, in the course of this, Lalita is referred to as his sweetheart, she gets hot under the collar and makes it perfectly clear that she is not his wife and has no interest in being that. After that was settled, she grabs Sheldon and the two go eat, where he is to tell her more about the princess from his childhood.

What Sheldon has done angers not only Raj but his parents as well, who heard the reports of Sheldon's actions the previous evening on a video chat sesson. After some explaining from Leonard, Sheldon understands that it is not socially appropriate to go out with the date of his friend, especially if that's not his date.