Feature
The meaning of friendship
Ipshita Fahmin
Albert Camus once said,
‘ Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend'
FRIENDSHIP and friends are words that are so common in use that sometimes we forget the true meaning of it. Harsh practicalities of life have left us with little emotions and more selfishness. But as we walk in the rough trails of life, we realize we might have been born alone, we might die alone but definitely we can't possibly live alone all by ourselves. At the end of the day we look for shelter, for love and above all for friendship. True friends are hard to find but harder to keep if we don't value it.
We've just celebrated the friendship day on the 3rd of August. Many have celebrated by spending time together, meeting long lost friends, calling up buddies, sending text messages to each other and enjoying the day. But do we realize that friendship is not about just text messaging and wishing 'Happy Friendship day ' or hanging around for a while? It's about the journey that we need to go through to understand each other. I've seen people not knowing each other, coming together and getting along very well and ultimately turning into best buddies forever who are even ready to sacrifice their lives for each other. I've also seen people who were inseparable friends turning into biggest enemies. Life is a mystery itself that bestows us with so many gifts that we don't realize the value of it.
Each day we complain about our work and study pressure for which we are left with no time to spend with friends. True it might be, that indeed we struggle each day in this competitive age but of course we can manage a time to know our friends. Because it is our friends who make us realize that there are people who care about you. When the world strikes to blaze you with pointless defeats, friends help us in finding our confidence to fight back.
Friends usually have a great influence on individuals. Our characteristics, likings, behaviors and practices are often shaped by our friends. Just like good friendships can shape us for a better future, bad friends can also prove to be destructive. Peer pressue is thought to be one of the primary reason for the recent rise of drug addiction in youths. It's no crime not to be aware of the bad influence but it's definitely a crime to accept the bad influence knowingly. This is the time where our friends can help to recover or even stop their friends from wrong deeds. Just a few days back, I was reading a true story of friendship; it went something like this:
Two girls at school were very good friends. They both finished school and went to the same college. Everyone knew they were the best of friends. There were no secrets between them and both knew each other inside out.
After some days, one friend found the other acting strange. She would remain withdrawn, sleep too much and turn violent if provoked. At first the other friend thought it was just the studies getting on to her. But with time, she became even more moody and frustrated. Finally her friend couldn't take it any longer and confronted her with the problem. She broke down and confided that she was involved emotionally with a guy and he was taking drugs and forcing her to take them too. The other friend listened to her shocking story. She was not only forced to take drugs but was also forced to bring money often and was threatened with dire consequences if she told anyone. Her friend was too shocked to think anything and advise her right then. So she made sure that while her friend cried herself to sleep, she would think of a way to help her. Finally she thought that she would come up straight to the point and tell her to leave that guy and get a life. She contacted the college counselor who was a psychologist and told her the problem. She offered to help and also said that matter would be kept under wraps. The girl was then advised by her friend to leave this guy as he was torturing her unnecessarily. Her friend reminded her of her dreams of becoming a successful professional, inspired her to set an example for others and reminded of what her parents would feel if they found out what their daughter was up to. After a lot of cajoling and talking, she finally agreed to leave him. She was given basic counseling and was weaned off drugs quite fast. All this while, her friend never left her side and stood by her.
Finally they graduated and the friendship only grew stronger. They both went on to become successful professionals but never let each other down by adopting foolish habits. Thus, true friends are those who inspire you to become the best you can ever be. They have full confidence in you and won't rest till you achieve your goal.
Our hopes, dreams aspirations are attached to our friends. Campus life is the best time of our life as we get to know lots of people amongst which some become our great friends.
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