Nothing warms the heart more than love itself. Especially love of the friendship kind. Almost three decades together these girls teach us about standing together and standing up for each other.
A lot of who we become is a reflection of the friendships we choose. To explain the emotional intimacy best friends share is almost impossible.

On a sunny afternoon, a few days before Anahita Dhondy (JODI’s main girl and SodaBottleOpenerwala’s main chef) is to wed, we got together with her best girls to play dress up and chat about this epic love story of a friendship!

(left to right) Vidya Varma in The Samarkand Set, Saanya Bawa in The Beruniy Set, Nitya Uppal in The Khiva Gown, Anahita Dhondy in The Tashkent Set.

1. What do you love the most about your best friend ?
Nitya - I LOVE how supportive all of them are! Whether it's a tough career decision or the motivation to go for that last tequila shot - they're all pushers!
Special mention for Vidya: I love how we love the same food. Kolhapuri chicken 4eva.

2. What is your most embarrassing moment with your best friend ?
Saanya - One of my best friends (won't name who) came to Atlanta to visit me when I was graduating. It was my birthday night and I took her out with my Atlanta friends. She got sooo drunk that she threw up all over the place and woke up the next day with puke on the bed. This was quite embarrassing for me but what do you do when you have such best friends.

(left to right) Vidya Varma in The Samarkand Set, Saanya Bawa in The Beruniy Set, Nitya Uppal in The Khiva Gown, Anahita Dhondy in The Tashkent Set.

3. What would your perfect day with your best friends be like ?
Vidya - In the hills, a day spent laughing and reminiscing old stories.

4. How long have you known each other ?
Anahita - I’ve known Saanya since I was four, we sat together in the bus to school the first day in nursery and ever since then we’ve known each other, through ups and downs, through boyfriends, school, college, work and now marriage.
Nitya was in my class, I know her since I was four as well, but we only became very close in the 9th grade. Vidya and me have know each other since we were 14-15 years old which means all of us have literally grown up from babyhood to being married women! God, that feels like a lifetime of all the silly things we’ve done and experienced. It’s been so much fun, I want them forever!

Saanya Bawa in The Beruniy Set.

Vidya Varma in The Samarkand Set, Nitya Uppal in The Khiva Gown.

5. What is your greatest fear for your best friends ?
Anahita - Not sure if I have a greatest fear for these gorgeous girls, but I hope they never become too serious in life. I hope they still are goofy (I’m saying this because I feel I’ll be the only idiot who’d still be upto all sorts of tricks even at 40) and hope they always enjoy my cooking!

6. Whats your favourite thing that Anahita owns ?
Nitya - I think, at this point, all those gorgeous Anjul Bhandari suits.
Saanya - Everyday to work, Anahita wears these hair clips which have a flower on them. I love this about her because it's unique and different - it's a part of her identity now.

7. When was the last time something about your best friend made you cry and why ?
Nitya - Okay, I don't remember the last time. But I remember bursting into tears when I found out Saanya had Hepatitis B. (I thought the situation was worse than it was.) And when Anahita told me she was planning to get engaged, I spent a week randomly bursting into happy tears.
Saanya - This is easy. The last time I cried was when I attended Anahita's engagement. I hadn’t been around when the proposal happened. When I saw her with her to-be husband at the engagement ceremony it suddenly hit me that it's really happening and she’s going to get married. It brought tears to my eyes. She looked ecstatic and there was a glow on her face. You could see she had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

Vidya Varma in The Samarkand Set.

8. Where do you hope to be 10/15 years from now ?
Nitya - I’m honestly terrible at making long term plans - but I hope I'm happy, surrounded by the people I love (who're healthy and happy). Oh, and I hope I've worked on a bunch of exciting projects.
Vidya - Happy in our lives personally & professionally, meeting whenever we can and still cracking up on the same stories.
Saanya - Sorted in life - financially, emotionally and mentally. I want to be at the peak of my career and crazy in love!
Anahita - I hope to be running my own restaurant up in the hills where I could have a seasonal daily menu and a home of my own. I do hope for a happy family life (since I’m stepping into a new chapter) with the jingbang.

9. When have you felt most proud of each other ?
Nitya - SO hard to narrow it down to a single moment with these girls. I mean Anahita is currently writing a god damn book. I'm proud of Saanya for the silent feminist that she is. She doesn't know it, she doesn't own that word, she doesn't even call herself a feminist. But she acts, works, thinks like one. I’m super proud every time Saanya cribs about being broke - she’s buying her own car and paying off her own MBA loan!
Vidya - I think when Ana just went after her dreams and struck her chance with SodaBottleOpenerWala and killed it by being the youngest female chef! And for always sticking by what she really believes in and marrying the man she's always been with despite all odds.
Saanya - Every step of the way! When Vidya got married. When Nitya got a fantastic job at POPxo. When Anahita became a superstar at SBOW. We tend to celebrate every big decision made in each of our lives.
Anahita - I’ve been so proud of Saanya when she got into ISB, its super tough and she cracked it! I do feel it’s been her best decision so far and makes me so happy!

Anahita Dhondy in The Tashkent Set.

10. What was the last thing that made you all pee with laughter?
Nitya - “Hever have I hever” - in Bhowali, drunk and high and unable to pronounce common words. 
Vidya - On the day of the shoot when Miss Anahita left her keys in her lehenga and the turn of events, the idea of the road trip to Gauri-Rhea's stocked with chips and beers was almost too funny, didn't make us pee but we did crack up like clowns.
Saanya - For Anahita's bachelorette we tried to organize a stripper for her. Turns out the stripper was actually a male prostitute. Luckily we found out in time, before he showed up.
Anahita - I think it has to be one of our old videos which I am dancing.. or this really funny jaimala video in which the bride falls down. I remember laughing till our stomach hurt!

(left to right) Saanya Bawa in The Beruniy Set, Anahita Dhondy in The Tashkent Set, Nitya Uppal in The Khiva Gown.