|| Celebrate Friendship ||

|| Celebrate Friendship ||

Friendship is a responsibility, not an opportunity, as someone once said. It is simple to be a friend, but challenging to be a "true friend." It is quite simple to stay in touch with your friends in our fast-paced world when you use social media. On social media, celebrities may have thousands, millions, or even billions of followers, but do you really search for one true friend who inspires you from the inside out or who is there for you when you need them the most? I'd like to connect with one of those friends, someone who believes in me and who guides me through every stage of life. It's simple to make friends on social media, but does it really teach users how to make true friends? Technology has made it possible for us and other people to keep track of how many friends we are connected with through platforms like texting, Facebook, Twitter, and email. However, if you make a list of those friends, you can find out how many friends you have kept and how responsible you are for that, as well as how many friends carry the responsibility of a true friendship.

Lord Krishna, the true friend of Sudama, Arjuna, Radha, his brother Balrama, gop and gopis, cows, peacocks, and his bansuri, represents true friendship and demonstrates how friendship is more of a responsibility than an opportunity. He has taught us so well how to celebrate friendship. Be there for your friend, guide your friend, believe in your friend, share responsibility with your friend, and love and live with your friend. Think and feel about your friendship, and all this thought process will happen if you believe it from your heart rather than your mind. I enjoy reading about Lord Krishna's most nostalgic moments, such as when he took makhan from his friends, the Gopi's, and shared it with the entire Natkhat Gwal. I also enjoy reading about his times when he was both close to Radha and away from her, doing his duties. It is absolutely mesmerizing to view Lord Krishna as a genuine friend, even with all of his might, while still imparting to Arjuna the actual meaning of earning one's living by doing good deeds.

We are all born as a single individual, and we grow up with our parents, siblings, and other family members. Despite the fact that there are many other people who are present as we develop, we call them friends instead of realizing the true meaning of the word until we develop into responsible adults and our friends accept the responsibility of being our true friends, at which point life simply turns into a celebration of friendship. We begin to realize that some of the most significant individuals in our lives, besides our families, are giving our lives purpose. They are the ones who are there for you when you need them most. They understand how you feel, don't pass judgement on you, and are there to listen to you with their ears wide open. They also provide you with sound advice. When you need true "jadu ki jhappi," they provide it. They show you how a single, lighthearted tear may transform into your beautiful smile.

When will your friendship be celebrated? When you have a friend by your side through thick and thin, they are the ones to forgive and forget; they agree to be there for you when you are at your best and stop you when you are doing foolish things. They weep and laugh with you and serve as your support system when other people leave your life. Any secrets you might have are kept between you and them. True friends may be close even when they are far away, as Lord Krishna has inscribed in everyone's heart. True friends are those who are encouraging and supportive at all times. I believe that if we see Lord Krishna as our true friend in this lovely life that God has given us, everything will fall into place, and life will simply be a celebration. At that point, Lord Krishna only needs to worry about upholding his genuine friendship with his devotees.

When it comes to having friends, there are so many people who have helped me without my knowledge. As someone once said, "Choose your friends wisely, for they are uncommon as a precious nugget on the city streets." Without having any expectations, they have helped me believe in myself. I have had friends do stupid things like talk to me continuously for 13 hours on a train without any disturbance. Without paying for tickets, entering a theatre, exploring the cultures of other nations on their streets at night, looking for food on crowded streets without enough money, using trains without tickets, changing their name, having fights with friends over grades in school and college, and complaining to professors about friends receiving progressively lower and higher grades are some of the things friends do.

Although they may be few, friends may be a wonderful treasure for you. If you do discover them, cherish them as you would your own life. When the moment is right, forgive them and look out for them. Finding a real friend requires luck, and finding true friends with whom you can cry, laugh, study, debate, fight, or even do dumb things like play jokes on each other takes even more luck. A celebration of friendship is only possible if you understand how to keep it alive. When a friend in need calls, you just drop everything and join in on their suffering. Be his or her greatest strength through their sorrow. Based on my own experience, I believe that new friends are made at every stage of life, and if your perspective on life is good and you learn to be adaptable with your friends, even if you aren't their closest or most real friend, you will always be in their hearts.

I recently met and spent a lot of time with my school and college friends while we were celebrating one of our school friends' daughters' wedding, and we all realized that we were all in school together, whether we were competing for grades, getting positions in class, being influential with teachers or principals, grabbing the attention of girls and boys, getting punished with friends, or spending time at a picnic and pulling each other with crack jokes. These little yet beautiful life experiences have shaped who we are now. Those incidents are pleasant recollections that, in light of our current experiences, seem trivial. We feel fortunate that, at this time, we can once again enjoy our relationship with more closeness and energy. We reconnected as friends in real life so that we could support one another or just be with each other.

We grow in life, according to philosophy, like leaves seeing each other and falling together. Continue to meet in life as if two oceans are merging. In friendship, don't think too much; feel and connect with each other whenever you feel like it. Do your best in friendship as a responsibility, a commitment, or a pleasure, but do your best. When soldiers are together on the field, they make a commitment to protect one another, even if they are not called friends. Let's learn true friendship from them. I believe you can be a true friend only if you believe in your friend.