This one’s for you.

There are, in my opinion two things that language fails to do justice to. Love and Friendship. And today, the world celebrates one of these. What I am going to do today, is to try and put into words, what friendship is to me and tell my friends how much they mean to me.

I was first introduced to the word 'friend' when I was around two and a half years old. I went to 'Tiny Tots', which was a small school near my house. Our teacher said to me one day, when I guess I was angry on a boy from our class, for solving my jig-saw puzzle, "Come one now, he is your friend right? Shake hands and solve the puzzle together".
A year later, my mum’s friends or my relatives generally asked me who my 'best friend' was after they had finished interrogating me about my name, school, etc. Around the same time, we were allowed to sit with our 'best friends' in school and there were little quarrels among us about exactly who was whose 'best friend'. I had a friend, whom I used to sit with, spend all my time with, eat lunch with and go home with. I realised, he was my, what they called, 'best friend'. But, he left school and went to another country. I’m happy to say, that hasn’t made much difference to our friendship.

As I went to first grade, I got to know my other classmates, whom I hadn’t known much about earlier.   Little did I know that four of these were going to become the most important people in my life. Growing up, I read many books about friendship, lessons about friendship from our English textbook, wrote essays on 'My Best Friend' and 'A Friend in need is a friend indeed' and saw movies which highlighted friendship. By the time I was in fifth grade, I had understood that friendship was a really really important part of our lives. Friends were the family we could choose. But, in sixth standard, I experienced the importance of friendship. I developed a close amity with a friend with whom I hadn’t talked much for the past three years. We used to fight a lot, quarrel every single day but somewhere between that bickering, we became friends and not just the so called 'friends' whom you say hi to everyday. Not the kind of friends that just hung out together. We trusted each other, understood each other and well, had loads of fun together. At the same time, my bond with two crazy girls whom I known since first grade deepened. They probably realised that I was as crazy as them, if not more. But I still had a friend who was more special than the rest.
Sixth grade was the best school year of my life. Weekends were torture because I couldn’t meet my three amigos then. Spending time with them made me happy and spending time without them sucked.  They would be there when I needed them, to make everything seem all right and they would be there when I didn’t need them, to annoy me...well I don’t think there was a second when we didn’t need one another. We started understanding each other so well that we could lip read each other and communicate from two corners of the class without letting anyone else know. We completed each other’s sentences and most of the times, looks were enough to convey everything. That’s when I realised how beautiful friendship was. I started appreciating and being grateful for my friends and it was then that I truly understood what friendship meant.

Friendship is beguiling. It is as close to magic as it can get. Friends are, at times, more than family. They don’t judge you, they don’t pick your flaws, they understand you, they trust you, they’re faithful and well, they are friends.

For you, who’s reading this, I wish you a very Happy Friendship Day! Tell your friends how much they mean to you and thank them for being there. Friendship is priceless and well, it’s something to be grateful for. Remember, a real friend is someone who makes you realise how beautiful friendship is...