The Story of a Friendship- Aditi Patel & Aarti Mallik

By Gopika Vaidya

Two girls sit in a sunny room. One, the taller of the two is sprawled across the floor, her head supported on her elbow as she listens to her friend. The other is lounging on a striped brown sofa, her long legs covered in sparkly blue jeans spread before her, and a beaded necklace strung around her throat. She chats animatedly about her current favourite movie, Spiderman, and how AMAZING Westlife, a teenage pop group is.

Meet Aditi 'Ada' Patel and Aarti 'Art' Mallik. On the surface, they're both average teenage girls, mooning over David Beckham and Justin Timberlake, collapsing into fits of giggles from time to time and breaking into the occasional fight. What's special about them however, is the strength of their friendship, sustained over 10 years, three countries and teenage hormones.

"When I first met Aarti, I hated her and she hated me because we just hated each other and we don't know why," says Aditi, the taller girl, giggling. "I thought she was a show off and she thought I was a bully."

"Two years later, we stopped hating each other so much," Aarti chimes in. "It was at a Christmas carnival when I came as an elf and Ada came as Mrs. Santa Claus. People were teasing us about looking hilarious so we decided to become friends, and we're still friends."

The girls spent many years swimming, playing squash and "just being" the way they describe what they like doing together. "We had a catfight a few years ago and stopped being friends," saying Aditi, with all the seriousness a child accords to a quarrel. "We had a Planeteers club which stemmed from Captain Planet. Aarti was a guy called Matti, and I called her Muddy and she punched me in my stomach and I whacked her on her back!" "But three days later, we were friends again because we were very proud of our battle wounds!"

In March 1999, however, Aarti's family decided to move to Bahrain. "I was very angry when I found out Aarti was leaving. I was angrier with her father than her and I couldn't stop crying. But I was even more upset because I didn't even know where Bahrain was!" says Aditi.

When Aarti returned a year later for a holiday, things were different. "We hadn't been keeping in touch much. I felt like I didn't know Aditi that well anymore and so did she," says Aarti. That summer, over weekend sleepovers and long talks, the friendship was healed and things were back on track. "We swam a lot, talked a lot, played squash like freaks, faked playing squash, where we'd kick the wall and squeak out shoes so people would think we were playing ' we still do that!"

Aarti, who now lives in Jakarta, and Aditi email each other almost everyday and regularly chat with each other. "I chat with all her friends and she chats with mine, so we feel connected to each other's lives," says Aditi. "So it doesn't feel any different when we meet because we know what the other is talking about and we have a lot of fun and laughter together."

"It's never boring if Ada's around," says Aarti. "She's got these crazy things stored in her mind and it's always fun! We make up silly songs and games and adventures and just have fun being together."

The girls see themselves being friends for the rest of their lives; a challenge as they will grow older and mature differently in separate environments. In an age when almost everything, including relationships, come prepackaged for instant gratification, Aarti and Aditi are a refreshing reminder of the enduring power of friendship and the strength of ties that bind people across the globe.