“We had joy we had fun we had seasons in the sun,” ...These famous lines from a song from the Back Street Boys holds up the image of an evergreen friendship in my mind. It brings back the reminences of my school days when every year on the first Sunday of August, we six boys used to take a firm oath to maintain our friendship for ever. Today almost after ten years of passing out from the school, we don't even know each others whereabouts.
This thing makes me ponder over the fact that what is the relevance of friendship day now for me and even what relevance does it have in India. I remember spending a lot of my pocket money in buying greeting cards, gifts and even treating my friends on this very day, but were they worth enough? After so much exposure in life and facing so much harsh reality that life offers, I just find it a waste of time, energy and money.
I still have friends whom I never wish at all on this day, but they are still my best friends in place of those with whom I use to swear for maintaining friendship and taking holy oath on this 'auspicious day'. I think it depends upon the emotion and dedication for each other that strengthen the bond, not expressing your feeling for a friend on one particular day. I see people wearing friendship bands and flaunting them in front of everyone just to show that they have so many friends or they are liked by so many people. Even the thing that makes me laugh is people have made friendship bands as their style statement and their parameter of measuring a friendship has become the cost of the gifts that they are offered by their friends. So, what is the sense of celebrating such day?
I find it a sheer copy of the western culture like the other imposed 'auspicious occasions' such as Mother's day, Father's day or the most 'auspicious day'- valentines day. I feel do we need any particular day to show our emotion, gratitude and love for our father, mother or our beloved ones? I think every day is a mother's day, father's day and a valentines day. These all auspacious days are imposed on our Indian culture to milch money. Who are the benefeciaries out of the celebrations of these occasions? These are western greeting cards and gifts suppliers like Archies or hallmark. This is the reason why they are always promoting such occasions in a big way. They are banking upon the youths who are completely obsessed with everything western. If you don't celebrate such days, you are not a trendy or a modern guy.
The celebration of such occasions, I feel, will only lead us to such a situation when we will start remembering our friends or our beloved only due to these days. So, I firmly believe that the celebration of friendship day is only a sheer copy of the west and is being promoted in India to harness rich profits by the multinational companies. It is not at all meant for India where still 27 percent of the populatin is living below poverty line and fighting each day to satiate their hunger.
“We had joy we had fun we had seasons in the sun,” ...These famous lines from a song from the Back Street Boys holds up the image of an evergreen friendship in my mind. It brings back the reminences of my school days when every year on the first Sunday of August, we six boys used to take a firm oath to maintain our friendship for ever. Today almost after ten years of passing out from the school, we don't even know each others whereabouts.
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