Friendship and Friendship Day
Aravind Chinni
What is Friendship?
There are various definitions given by various people. However, it is one’s inner soul that tells who is their friend. Following are a few quotes on friendship.-
1. It’s an in-depth relationship combining trust, support, understanding, intimacy and many.
2. Being able to trust and relax with your friend is a big part of friendship.
3. Your friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you. — Elbert Hubbard
4. Who finds a faithful friend, finds a treasure. — Jewish Saying.
5. What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies. — Aristotle
6. The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.– Abraham Lincoln
7. The only way to have a friend is to be one. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
8. A faithful friend is the medicine of life. — Apocrypha
9. Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil. — Baltasar Gracian (1647)
10.Friendship needs no words… — Dag Hammarskjold.
11.Friends are the sunshine of life.
History of Friendship day:
The tradition of celebrating a Friendship Day began in 1935 when the US Congress decided to dedicate a day in the honor of friends. Though it is not exactly known what were the reasons that went into the making of this day, the retrospection of the world scenario of those times can lead us to an understanding. With the devastating effects of the First World War still showing and increasing hostilities, mistrust and hatred between countries providing the perfect conditions for another imminent battle, there was a greater need for friendship and camaraderie not only among nations but also among individuals.
Following the popularity and success of Friendship Day in US, several other countries adopted the tradition of dedicating a day to friends. Today, Friendship Day is enthusiastically celebrated by several countries across the world including India.
There is not much literature on Friendship Day history as we celebrate today. However, there are numerous folktales and several instance in mythological legends that shows that friends and friendship have been valued since the beginning of civilized world. As an intrinsically social creature, men love to make friends to further this process of socialization.
In 1997, the United Nations named Winnie – the Pooh as the world’s Ambassador of Friendship.
Importance of Friendship in the History of Bharat:
Friendship has a great value in the History of Bharat starting from the Tretayuga to the current Kaliyuga.
Here are a few:
Tretayuga:
Rama and Sugriva
Rama and Vibhishana
Rama and Guha
Sugriva and Hanuman
Dasaratha and Jatayu
Dwapara Yuga:
Krishna and Sudhama
Duryodhana and Karna
Bala
Kaliyuga:
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda
Veer Savarkar and Madan Lal Dhingra and Savarkar’s Mitra Mela
Bhagat Sing, Prannath Mehta
Chatrapathi Shivaji and Tanaji, Shivaji’s Mavala Friends and Chimanaji Deshpande a childhood friend of Shivaji.
Bala Gangadhar Tilak and his friends Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, Mahadev Ballal Mamjoshi and Vishnu Krishna Chiplonkar.
And Current Celebrities:
Advani and Vajpayee
Amitab and Amar Sing
—-
and many more including my friends and your friends
So do we still need to celebrate a Friendship Day?
I personally feel we don’t need a special day to celebrate your friendship. The day you spend with your friends is your friendship day.
If you are really a good friend then you don’t need to celebrate a day that too on a day which was decided by a government or some body else. Instead you should have your own friendship day depending on a day which you people prefer.
However there is no wrong in celebrating a day all over the world too. So, it is your stand to celebrate or not.