An Ode To Friendship!
What is friendship? Well, friendship is too vast a concept or a relationship
for a clear-cut definition. In fact, it always remains better-off undefined, and
even unfathomable. For practical purposes though, friendships are based on
mutual likes, mutual respect, mutual love and a whole limitless world of
mutuality. Some friends are made instantly, on the first exchange of mutual likes
or in line with that saying ‘love at first sight’ being replaced with ‘friendship
at first sight’, while some others take time to bloom into a perfect relationship.
It is not necessary to have everything in common to be friends: friends can
have diametrically opposite interests or even ideologies or passions or professions
and yet be the best of friends. Mind you, like marriages friends are not made
in heaven, they are technically ‘made in planet earth’ only.
Although friendships mostly develop and bloom amid school/college/university
classmates, children in a neighborhood, friends’ friends, peers and office
colleagues it can happen anytime with anyone at any stage of life. It is also
totally free of the age factor, a 15-year-old can be the best of pals with a 60
or more-year-old. It is also free of all language, ethnicity, region, religion
or culture barriers. Contrary to patriarchal beliefs it is also free of the
gender factor, a boy can have an equally limitless friendship with a girl and
vice versa. Therefore, if a true friendship is the basis between boys and girls
then the terms of ‘girlfriends’ or ‘boyfriends’ are misnomers.
Again, contrary to the general belief that members of the family cannot
be friends, friendship can bloom even between grandchildren and grandparents; children
and parents; between siblings and in-laws; and with anyone, everyone. Friendship
can in fact add a refreshing dimension to such relationships. Therefore, people
need not hesitate to send friend requests to their family and kin too on the social
media. With the world becoming a closed and small place digitally there can
also be friends irrespective of the huge geographical distances, the instant
communication facility being the bonding factor. It’s basically the bond that
drives the friendship vehicle seamlessly around, both in reality and in virtual
reality. However, a mere ‘friend’ on the social media does not necessarily signify
friendship.
Friendship provides the truest form of a liberal democracy: you can talk,
debate or dispute anything under the sun with friends; a friend will never
undermine you for your weaknesses or limitations; friends do have the right to quarrel
bitterly between themselves too and yet remain friends; selfish motives never
penetrate a friendship bond and if it does then it’s not friendship; and absolutely
nothing of the kind of competitiveness or rivalry ever figures in a friendship.
People often confuse between business relationships and friendships for such
reasons; however, it is possible to chisel out friendship here too, if the ‘business’
part is dealt and dispensed with diligently.
The beauty of friendship is that it is not at all necessary to do any
maintenance work for keeping it up which means you need not visit your friends
or call your friends or write/message to your friends at regular intervals to
show that you are still friends. You can be in the same city or thousands of
miles apart and you can be out of touch for months, years or even decades, and
yet you can reunite anytime anywhere basking in the undiminished glory of your friendship
as if nothing had happened. Therefore, the observance of ‘Friendship Day’ once
or more in a year is not at all necessary to rekindle your friendships or to
justify it by sending inspiring messages or by shedding abundant tears of
remembrance. But of course, such occasions make you ponder, introspect and even
write something about it, call it an ode or notes as you may prefer.
Friendship is selfless, limitless; friendship is forever. Perhaps the best
ever gift of God bestowed on humankind. Celebrate friendship every moment of your
life, and be proud you have them by your side, always.
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