Since we were in 5th grade, the “1/3th diverse group,” as we call ourselves, has maintained an unbreakable friendship that has withstood the test of time. 

It’s interesting to think about how most friendships are based purely upon supporting one another and being kind. Our friend group doesn’t work like this. Our love language has always been snarky and mean to one another, as we crack out-of-context jokes that have no relation to the situation at hand. The uniqueness of the group dynamic certainly comes from our banter, which always leads to another inside joke or another laughing attack. 

It’s more than just fun and games, too; something about being so close to each other has allowed us to communicate openly (and with brutal honesty) about everything in our lives. As we wrap up the very last chapter of our lives together, my friends and I have maintained close relationships with one another, proving that the dynamic of our friend group works. 

Not only is our group unique in that sense, but also the ways in which we are fully invested in each other’s backgrounds and cultures. The name “1/3rd diverse group” came from the fact that there are two people who are not Indian out of the six of us. Ariel Zhou and Zinneerah Ahmed have been conditioned to inherit a sort of Indian cultural identity simply being around the rest of us, and vice versa. The other three are Priyanka Meduri, Vidhi Patel and Tashi Vasudeva.

Picking up phrases like “give me pani” when asking for water or attempting to say words to Ariel’s mom in Chinese has intertwined all of our backgrounds into one. 

“I love that we can connect with each other on a deeper level and understand each other’s backgrounds,” Ariel said. “Our friendship has withstood a lot.” 

This dynamic works two ways where we all love to learn about (and more importantly, indulge in) each other’s cultural foods. 

I remember almost a month ago, Ariel invited us to her house to get a dumpling-making lesson from her mom. As we laid out the dumpling wrappers, mixed together the ingredients for the filling and pinched the two together to make the perfect dumplings, everyone in the group was enjoying themselves trying this new activity. After  cooking up the dumplings and feasting on our delicious creations, we discovered a new appreciation for each other’s cultural backgrounds. 

Another very fond memory I have with my group is Garba, which was held at the school in September. Although not all of us come from an Indian background, this experience allowed us to all bond over a fun celebration where even the two non-Indians of the group were able to embrace Indian culture through dance and food. We all got ready together before the event, putting on gorgeous sparkly lenghas and lending our parents’ extras to the friends who didn’t own one. The event was a blast for everyone as we danced on the floor, playing with the dandiya sticks. 

As high school wraps up, I’m excited to see what the future holds for all six of us as we go our separate ways. The countless memories we’ve shared together — all the laughing attacks we’ve given each other and all the drives to popular food spots during lunch — are ones we won’t soon forget.