The ship that never sinks........ Friendship

Today is Friendship day... And after so many years of my life, suddenly I have sat down to ponder over the importance this day holds in my life... and the phenomenon it celebrates.

Ever since we are toddlers in a kindergarten, we are told to make friends. We are told to share our tiffins with them, play with the same toys and in general be good to them. At such a tender age, this Hallmark holiday really holds no meaning for us and the depth of friendship that we really feel within, is merely the tip of the iceberg. As we grow older the meaning of friendship gradually changes.

As a 5 year old, a friend was someone I could play with; someone whose house I would visit with my Barbie dolls every evening and have a blast as we enacted fairy tales and other stories involving princes and princesses with our dolls playing the protagonists. As I grew older, this definition of friendship changed. A friend was someone I could laugh with, talk to in a low volume amidst a very boring History lesson (for the record, I have nothing against history... just took an example), share my dabba with, play pranks with and all in all have a lovely time.



Of course, as everyone knows, friendship is not about merely having a lovely time as I mentioned earlier. But we begin to comprehend the real meaning of friendship only as we mature. The word "friend" encompasses a relationship that probably no one can possibly capture in words. It is so beautiful, so pure. Barring your parents, probably no one will know you as well as a good friend.. and perhaps with regard to certain things, even better than your parents....


I got a few very beautiful smses today which I felt were quite apt for this post, because it captures what I'm trying to communicate here.

A friend understands when you say I forgot, waits forever when you say 1 minute, stays when you say "Leave me alone" and opens the door even before you knock...

Love says: "If you ever need anything, I'll be there"...whereas friendship says,"you'll never need anything, if I'll be there."

A true friend is someone who can listen to you even when you are not uttering a word, who will be with you through thick and thin, someone who will guide you when you go astray and will love you and accept you for who you are.... no strings attached. But friendship is no one way street. One needs to reciprocate too. Indeed, as a friend of mine rightly said, "Friendship is a sweet responsibility"

Moving onto the first Sunday of August, popularly celebrated as Friendship Day. As the buzz hit my ears, I too got down to the tradition of making or sometimes purchasing (whenever I was too lazy) beautiful friendship bands, cards n gifts for my friends to make them feel special on that day. Year after year I carried out this tradition. Then as we matured, all of us began to feel that this was rather childish. So we came up with new ways to celebrate the day, like going out for coffee, watching a movie together or sometimes just hanging out together in our college canteen.



Sometimes I wonder... do we really need a special day to actually celebrate friendship? Do we not celebrate it each and every moment we spend in the company of a dear friend? We laugh and we cry with them... But then I feel if we can have "Father's Day", "Mother's Day", "Teacher's Day" and the ever so popular "Valentine's Day", well what's wrong with having "Friendship Day", considering friends are such an important part of our lives.

I could go on and on about friendship, even more so because I'm currently in a very pensive mood as my best friend will be leaving for his higher studies in a few days time but I guess I shouldn't torture all the readers as well... So I'll just end with a very cute write up I had come across on friends. This is actually something that is written on a little show piece I have and I read it almost every single day... and it never fails to bring a smile on my face...

Friends share the ups and downs in life - understand the "I don't feel like talking" moods and stories that need to be shared over and over again. They help during the hard times, celebrate the really great times, ignore the crabbiness and join in the silliness...