Insight into friendship

Some parts of the world just finished celebrating friendship day. I am not a big fan of celebrating days for friends, grandparents, husband day. I have a feeling, they are more of marketing gimmicks. Every relationship could be honored, celebrated any day our hearts go for it. There are some celebrations dating back many years which I don’t question either.

This friendship day, for no specific reason I sat thinking of the wonderful things about friendship and its oddity. Yes I did say ODDity. It’s very strange. Categorized like credit cards, silver platinum... nothing to blame...just that there are friends, good friends, best friends and now the bestest friends. I think it’s only for friendship "best" becomes plural. I can have many best friends, and I do.

I wonder how two people become friends. It’s not like-mindedness. If its so, then all my friends should be of similar characteristics. Its not forced and followed, like an arranged marriage, where it starts as forcibly identifying the best of both and working on it. Sometimes its situation, room mates, play mates. Sometimes working together, spending more time works. Some do become friends due to incidents like help offered, accidents, functions.. But there is oddity too. Not all incidents lead to a new friendship. No similarity. Is it sharing, caring? But there are friends with whom I really don’t share anything. Not even a regular phone call, still I know they are there for me. When I meet, I talk as if we talked every other day. When we don’t, I know everything is fine out there. I am so confident same age, same sex and alike are out of league.

Friends come in many flavors. I am so proud to say, I have a dozen best friends. Really close to my heart. Everybody is different. I share a very unique relationship with each one of them. One is like a family to me. She knows everything in my life, my parents, budgets, problems and her distance relative knows me by name. I do have two motherly characters, rather mother-in-lawly characters. I get chided, criticized, loved, and advised. I have a friendly one, with whom I share that secret personal stuff. I have what I call informative friends. We are close and our conversations are usually loaded with knowledge sharing, books, work, culture. I have this friend with whom I have spent walking almost a part of Chennai. We talked everything under the sun, we knew each other well, but never actually spoke about it. We just know. Then are cuddly friends. Yes a very young at heart relationship. There are friends who were colleagues, now the few of the first ones to know the highlights of my life. Gossip, talk, shop, eat and enjoy.

I truly enjoy my time with each of them. I cherish all the moments I spent with them. In a way, they define me at different moments. I read it somewhere, if a person made, 5 good friends in their life, they can consider themselves successful. Going by it, my life is a super hit and I am living it.

The moral is Friendship is strange, amazing thing that blossoms at heart and stays forever. When it can be worded to perfection, it will become history. Happy friendship day.