I’M YOUR FRIEND, AM I??!!

The world is full of people. 7 billion to be precise and still counting!! Each person is an iota of this huge figure which is to say quite insignificant in terms of numeric value. But then what does it have to do with this topic?

Let us begin with a single person (feel free to imagine yourself). I hope you have already visualized your picture. Consider your span of life as depicted by a line (forgive me, but I do love mathematics). If each person is depicted by a line then the earth has around 7 billion lines. Are all these 7 billion lines parallel to each other? Of course not.

The lines are unique for one person but the path it travels is not alone. It is bound to be intertwined with those of others. This crossing of paths is commonly referred as “Relationships or Bonds”. Some relationships are by birth and some are made by us during the course of life. And friendship is one such type of relationship.

It is said that we may not get to choose our relatives but we do get to choose our friends. Another common saying is, “A person is known by the type of friends he chooses”. The thing that I am trying to point out is that friendship seems to be a very important bond of our life. Or rather, the true ones are rather very important.

But then, what is a true friendship? A real friendship?

Friendship is a feeling of fondness, a feeling of affection between two or more persons. It is believed that the bond of friendship grows stronger with time. The more you know the person, the more common traits you observe and the more close you get. But then, why do close or old pals break-up? Never to talk again or sometimes even to see again..!! I guess this definition is ambiguous.

Some people say that a particular person is their friend because they have so much in common. But sometimes doesn’t this commonness breed jealousy amongst them? This definition also isn’t up to the mark.

SRK has famously said in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, “Pyaar Dosti Hai”. So I guess love is friendship? But then I stumbled upon the quote that “There is a thin line between love and friendship”. Maybe this definition is suitable only in the movies. Come to think of it personally, every friendship may not necessarily culminate in love but every love necessarily begins with friendship.

One of the greatest pieces of wisdom is, “A friend in need is a friend indeed”. This I think is correct at least in some parts. He/she is someone with whom you want to share your happiness and he/she is someone whom you want to reach out in your troubled times. A person who is rock solid in your support. But this doesn’t mean that you should call for them in your troubled times only and forget them when they may need your help. Personally I believe that helping your friend in distress is hundred times better than wishing them on their birthday. (Although this doesn’t mean that you should not wish me on my birthday, I will kill you if you don’t do so.)

Going by all what I have said above, it seems that friendship is quite a complex thing to understand. It is even more complex to find a real friendship and most complex of all is to fulfil it with your heart.

The most beautiful thing about friendship is that we ourselves choose this bond and the uncertainty of where it will end up. We may have lot of friends but we may end up alone at the point of crisis, we may have fewer friends but we may feel that we can rule the world.

I still can’t fathom the meaning of friendship. Or there isn’t any universal meaning for the word. I guess it’s a feeling and that everyone has a definition of their own. But one thing is certain that it is really something extraordinary, something worth nurturing and something extremely divine. That’s what I feel and that’s what both my heart and mind agree upon. 

Maybe I’m wrong. 

Maybe I’m right. 

Maybe I’m half right and half wrong. 

Friendship can be Tom and Jerry and friendship can be Pooh and Piglet.

To each his own.

So then- I am your friend, am I??!!