Falooda of Friends

Who does not want friends? They form the part and parcel of our lives, and life without them would be, I don’t know, unimaginable.  Many of us love the popular American sitcom- “Friends”. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan.  What is it that attracted us to it? Why did we get so fond of them?  I think it is because we see ourselves in them at some point.  We see our own friends in the characters they portray.  There is a funny Chandler or a crazy Phoebe or even a cleanliness freak Monica amongst our friends.  If not exactly the same, there is a likeness to some behavior they show and that is why we connect to these people.  There are different kinds of friends and different degrees of friendships.  You may say we are best friends, we are good friends or sometimes we are just friends.  They are those special people you met by chance which you can later on say, serendipity, and they touch your heart real deep, and before you know it they are among the most important people in your life.  They care for you and dote on you more than you could think was possible.

Some have chaddi-buddies, childhood friends. They may be your cousins, neighbors or family friends. They are your friends since you were little kids, say, when you still walked around in your underwear.  You went to school together, played together, grew up together and spent every possible time together.  They are the ones who know you inside out, understand you and love you for what you are.  They are the no-matter-what friends.  They are by your side in good times and bad, they are your confidants, they can influence you like no one can. Fight all you want, but they stick on to you all through your life.

You make friends at school, in college, at work and any place you spend time on a regular basis.  And you get variety of kinds.  But like the Airtel ad goes, “Har ek friend zaroori hota hai” (every friend is necessary/important).  There are friends with common interests.  I mean that is how you got to know them in the first place.  Then you meet friends of friends.  Here there are chances of you getting closer to them than the intermediate friend or they may remain as acquaintances whom you just greet whenever you happen to see them around you. 

There are also the “friends in need” who you don’t hang out much with, but on some rare occasion when you are in some desperate need and with no one you know by your side, and these people  appear like God sent them and save your day.

The next one I am talking about might sound weird but it's true.  Commuting friends:  The friends you make while you commute to work or college.   People using their own vehicles to commute do not have this privilege.  This happens when you go at fixed timings and take the same bus every day.  You see these people every day.  You empathize with each other when you miss the bus, or exchange change because the conductor yells at you if you don’t give him exact change, so you save each other the humiliation.  You even team up and comment on the grumpy conductor for your own satisfaction.

Talking about friends I don’t want to leave out man’s best friend – dog.  Why only dog? Any pet for that matter.  They are great friends, and not to mention cute and cuddly.  They love you unconditionally, play with you, cheer you up when you are down, and always keep you happy.  The best part being that they never hurt you.

There is another kind of friends which is, perhaps extinct now, the pen pals.  With Internet revolution, the art of letter writing is dying and so is the pen pal system, people writing letters to people from distant places.  The social networking sites have made the world smaller indeed, but not many write mails.  But, one can form communities on the social networking sites.  People with similar interests can get together and interact.

On one of those rough days you have, you need that one friend you want to simply be with, and wait till the phase passes. A mere hug, or pat on the hand makes you feel better, that you are not alone.  Any day, and everyday all you need are friends.