What I learned about friendship…

“Friends are the siblings God never gave us.”

Friendship is a word everyone learns in school or maybe even before that but the definition keeps growing with time. The first friends we have is our parents. They teach us how to share, how to support and be with each other. This is further taught to us by our sibling(s). And if you’re lucky, sibling(s) can be your first and best friend forever.

Today, I would like to share about what I have personally learned from friendship and how it has transformed over the time.

First ten years of life, friendship was defined by how many friendship bands you tie or get tied on friendship day, who shares their favorite pencil or eraser with you, who shares their lunch box with you and many such simple things of life that are pure in its own beautiful way.

“There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.“

Growing a little more, the kind of people we are friends change with the activities we do. From playing similar games to developing new interests and pursuing them together, it can be a really beautiful time and this is the time I met one of my best friends for life. Our arguments over absolutely silly topics formed the foundation that stands so strong till date. I remember passing notes in the class to her and she replying back, all the way across the room. She considered me her little sister since she did not have any siblings and I was too happy to have a sister because my brother, as much as I love him, well, was a brother. He was my first best friend and still continues to be my BT (brother terrestrial). I love you BT.

“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.“

Moving to the age where all the hormones just refuse to stay calm. Yes, we all go through the phase where a simple friendship can make you all giggly and act all silly. But still, there remains some friends for a long time. One such friend is the one who made most fun of me. At every possible thing I ever did and that grew into one of the most comfortable friendships of my middle school.

High school taught me a lot of things. Just like it teaches all of us. I met some really nice people at this time and we were all really close in just a few months. After the wonderful two years of high school, how could it be that all would be as wonderful as it started out to be. Problems that happen due to other relations at that age, is just not possible to repair. And this is exactly what I remember from it. I learned a lot from all my friends at this time, and I am partially even to this day because of the same reason. But the people involved, well, they will always be in my wonderful memories of my scrapbook (my first scrapbook that they helped me start).

Being in college pursuing bachelors is a complete turn than what I had seen before. Here the smallest of things could be the reason of friendship and even smaller reasons that broke them. It was the same case. After spending four wonderful years with people whom I thought would be there for all the important days of each others life, are all scattered now. The people who I entered that institution with or spent all my eight semesters, are now known strangers. It wasn’t supposed to be like this but it happens. And the sooner one accepts this, the lesser it hurts.

Now this was all when I was at home. Even if something happened, I knew I had mumma papa and my brother to go back to and talk about anything. And I had taken that for granted (somewhere back in my head).

Then came the time when I left home. I stepped outside for the first time. The time when friends are family away from home. It is during this time I truly learned what friendship means. What does the line, “Having someones back truly means.”

• I learned how to take care of each other when one is ill.
• I learned how to pamper someone just because they miss home. I learned how to be pampered when you miss home.
• I learned that if a mouse comes to your room, a true friend (even though you barely know each other for less than 2 months) will come over to your place and help you not to cry about it.
• I learned how someone will travel for hundreds of km just because you feel lonely.
• I learned how to listen to people just vent it all out and not say a thing because they want to.
• I learned how to support someone completely, when they are trying something new.
• I learned what not to tell someone who will ruin everything.
• I learned how to be patient and not just give it back when you lose patience.
• I learned how to start a conversation and seen it turn into beautiful friendships.
• I learned that one can definitely just call a friend and cry and there is no reason to be given.
• I learned that friends can talk into the night about absolutely anything and everything and next morning you feel like everything is beautiful again.
• I learned that when friendship doesn’t work, and no amount of talk can resolve some issues, the foundation has cracked and the bitterness, doesn’t really go away.
• I learned that it takes two to make it work.

I may talk to all my friends once in a while since everyone has their lives to take care of and everyone’s busy, but when I talk to such friends no matter how long, it is always like we spoke just the day before.

That is what I define friendship as – The unspoken understanding of each other.

Irrespective of the gender, friendship should be respected and not given names just because it is beyond your understanding what they have.

We learn each day and I shall continue the same. Some things are for life and so is this.

P.S. To all my friends out there, no matter how often we talk, I love you…and I miss you more.

P.P.S. Do share your stories/experiences/opinions/comments in the comment section below 🙂 Do subscribe to the blog if you enjoy reading the posts and receive an email each time a post is published 🙂 Thank you! 🙂

“The greatest gift of life is friendship, and I have received it.“