By: Vinod Chandrashekhar Dixit
The International Friendship Day is celebrated on 30th July as per the resolution adopted by the United Nations in 2011. It was decided to forge a strong bond of friendship among people of various countries irrespective of their race, colour, gender, religion, ethnicity and other such factors. A bond that is boundless. Perhaps, friendship could be summarized thus. The virtue of friendship has been appreciated by one and all over the world. Friendship is a faithful and loyal relationship between two or more person living anywhere in the world. We cannot leave our whole life alone and need a faithful relationship to someone to live happily called friends. Friendship is universal, and with social media so present nowadays its hard not to stay close and up to date with those special people, even if they don’t live in the same town anymore. Everyone needs a good and loyal friend to share bad or good life events, enjoy happy moments and share unbearable events of the life. Emphasizing on the importance of friendship, the great ancient Greek Philosopher and scientist exclaimed, “Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god.”
There are people to whom friendship is everything. Without a friend, life becomes unbearable for them. A saviour in troubled times, a friend in need becomes an invaluable asset. It is a nice experience to cherish memories of those occasions when a friend made a change in one’s life with a timely act. Devoting a day to such nice people in one’s life is an idea worth celebrating. And, many people have already embraced the idea. According to the great Roman Statesman Cicero “Friendship increases happiness and diminishes misery by doubling our joy and dividing our grief”. It is said that “Friendship brings many joys” This is because; friendship is the silken tie of love and esteem which binds two persons usually unrelated by blood. It is a priceless possession of man which imparts sweetness to life. It is a blessing; a few of us have been favoured with. A friend is a gift from God, because a real friend is a rare fortune. It is said that prosperity gains friends while adversity tries them. Friends who stand by us in weal and woe are, indeed, our true friends. A true friend never flatters us but gives us honest advice even though it may hurt us.
The main purpose of International Friendship Day is to promote the concept of friendship across different backgrounds and cultures in order to promote peace all over the world. It is also for reminding the general public of the importance of maintaining friendship and making new friends for improving the overall well-being of a person. The International Day of Friendship is an important opportunity to confront the misunderstandings and distrust that underlie so many of the tensions and conflicts in today’s world. It is a reminder that human solidarity is essential to promoting lasting peace and fostering sustainable development. Getting a best friend in the life is very hard for everyone and if one gets it, he/she is really bestowed with the true love of God. With the world becoming a global village, thanks to the transformation brought about by information technology, Indians too have joined the bandwagon of worshippers of friendship through the net and other means.
Friendship Day is all about celebrating the bond of friendship. Connections are like plants which you need to take care of. You need to constantly nourish your connections with different individuals in order to maintain the friendship or build it. Friendship Day is all about celebrating the bond of friendship. It is an occasion to turn the pages of life and reminisce the wonderful moments that you have spent with your pals in the school, college or workplace. Friendship between different people from different countries and with different cultures can inspire peace efforts and assist in building bridges between communities. Friendship is important because it helps break down barriers and connect people with diverse cultures and backgrounds. It even plays an important role in promoting peace in different cultures. (The author is a freelance journalist, writer & cartoonist. He can be reached at dixitpatrakar@yahoo.in)
