Years Of Friendship: 23
Where We Met: The Hospital, Downer's Grove, IL
My childhood BFF! When we first met in 5th grade, I didn't imagine we would be so close. We first bonded over the fact that our moms would let us have sleepovers ONLY at each other's houses. We are each other's confidantes and despite living so far apart on opposite coasts, we still always pick up right where we left off.
Years Of Friendship: 19
Where We Met: Brook Forest Elementary School, Oak Brook, IL
My fake cousin! This will continue to be our favorite story. We spent our entire childhood thinking we were the coolest, fun cousins. We would make music videos, bond over our broken Telugu skills, and talk about our imaginary future husbands over sweets. It wasn't until well into our adult years that we realized, we actually weren't even related! Either way, we are still family.
Years Of Friendship: ~25
Where We Met: Somewhere in San Jose, CA
My College Roommate! If i was ever seen without her on campus, people would wonder what's wrong. We did basically everything together: library dates, exploring Chicago, going on late night adventures just to get food, and jamming out to old school Bollywood music
Years Of Friendship: 11
Where We Met: Loyola Mertz Hall, Chicago, IL
My college buddy/Unofficial Roommate. We became friends in college over girl's nights. However, we became really close only after college when we realized that we were basically had everything in common and were living the same life. We somehow met our significant others 3 months apart, got engaged 3 months apart and are getting married 3 months apart!
Years Of Friendship: 10
Where We Met: Granville Apartments, Chicago, IL
My college buddy/Unoffical roommate. Our friendship slowly began through random weekday girl's nights at Loyola and got stronger each time. We bonded quickly over our mutual weird habits and "tall girl" status. She's the person I look to for fashion tips and for special heart to heart conversations.
Years Of Friendship: 10
Where We Met: Granville Apartments, Chicago, IL
My Cali Gal Pal! Suhi and I met ages ago (probably at a Telugu potluck party) but we lost touch over the years. Fortunately we were able to find each other again when I moved to California almost 5 years ago! We reconnected quickly over our mutual love for happy hours, fries and gossip, and became good friends instantly.
Years Of Friendship: ~20+ from when we first met
Where We Re-Met: San Jose, California
My Childhood Friend! Niki and I met way back in elementary school. Our friendship started over our mutual obsession over her puppy, Coco! Although I moved away, we were lucky to end up at the same college where we bonded over our mutual obsession of our South Asian cultural organization and dance!
Years Of Friendship: 20
Where We Met: Brook Forest Elementary School, Oak Brook, IL
(aka Vik)
Vikram is my little brother, best man and future CTO. He is equal parts sage advisor and annoying younger sibling. Vik enjoys fast cars, real estate, and nerdy conversations.
(aka PB)
Parul is my first cousin and basically my elder brother. He is outgoing, has boundless energy, and is always willing to lend a helping hand - no questions asked. He has been looking forward to the party - I mean, wedding - for a long time.
(aka June)
The Harker High School Crew. Arjun has always been around whenever I needed someone to commiserate with/complain to or whenever I needed someone to tell me to ""man up."" There are 2 truths everyone should know about Arjun - he does not back down from a challenge and there is never a dull moment when he around. If I ever come across something that challenges my comfort zone, I always ask myself: ""What would Arjun do?"
"
(aka House)
The Harker High School Crew. Suhaas has been a constant in my life through the years, from AP Physics all the way to Coachella. I've watched him grow into a successful engineer and entrepreneur (I've also literally watched him grow ... dude was short when we first met.) Even though I don't usually celebrate my birthday, Suhaas made it a tradition to take me out for drinks every year. He also loves movies as much as I do and we can probably have an entire conversation speaking in movie quotes.
(aka Snoop)
My USC homie. I met Anup in graduate school and we immediately hit it off since he is one of the few people that can understand my slanguage (hip hop > robot music.) The thing I appreciate most about Anup is that he is always down for anything: taking impromptu days off work to lollygag around town, buying random stuff (i.e. an inflatable basketball hoop + electric pump, countless pairs of kicks, Mickey Mouse hand sculptures), and 3AM taco runs (King Taco for life) to name a few.
(aka KERNNNN)
My USC homie. I met Karan at Orientation #4 prior to starting at USC. We then ended up living in the same dorm (Birnkrant) where we promised we would definitely not be doing any ""Indian stuff"" at college... Then we both did Indian stuff. Just like my other USC boys, I can't imagine my college experience with Karan. When I think about how my friends have transformed from stupid kids to functioning adults, I believe Karan most succesfully embraced and acclimated to what we call "adulting" (although sometimes I can still bring the stupid kid out of him... which I'm sure his wife appreciates. Sorry, Sapna!)
(aka Karunski)
The Harker High School Crew. Karun and I became friends in Summer School Geometry (*Honors Geometry) after freshman year and have been tight ever since. My guy's dedication and perseverance on the path to becoming an Orthopedic Surgeon is an inspiration to me. The only thing he loves more than performing surgery is hanging with the boys and some cold brews.
(aka Rosh)
My other College room partner. I lived with Roshan for 3 years and he has seen/dealt with/experienced all of my annoying traits (sorry, dude.) Roshan helped keep me alive in college and we had a lot of amazing times at USC. He is a diehard sports fan and turned me into a huge NBA fan as well. Speaking of basketball, Roshan is gifted point guard and ran the tables at his Medschool League in India, earning him the accolades: ""Manipal All Star,"" ""First Team All-NRI,"" and ""Most Valuable MD Candidate,"" until an ankle injury prematurely ended his playing career.
(aka Chinny)
One of my College room partners. Chintan and I met freshman year and became local celebrities after hosting the popular USC Indian Culture Show. Chintan is fearless in following his ambitions and goals... whether it is starting his own company, spending a year serving underprivileged communities in India, or making chutney sandwiches for a party (trust me, we were really cool in college.)
(aka Mitch)
My work homie. I met Ryan on the first day of my first job at Accenture. I didn't think I would make close friends after college, but luckily I was wrong. We had weekly "sync" meetings on Friday evenings in San Jose after a grueling week of consulting work. And when Ryan moved out of California, we continued to "sync" when we could across the states: Dallas, Atlanta, New Orleans... hopefully we get to add more cities to that list in future. And, as the first of my Groomsmen to be a newly-minted dad, I'm excited to see what the future holds for his family.
