As promised, here’s my blog on ‘friend’. The intent of writing this blog came while writing the previous blog on Masking. This is one topic on which i ponder the most and have spoken on and written about in the past too and i am sure writing on it will surely be great fun for me. So where shall i began… well i’ll begin from a very old and famous saying on friend – “A friend in need is a friend indeed”. There is no doubt on the validity and relevance of this saying but i have certain reservations and many points to add on to this definition.
There may be numerous instances in life when we are in dire need of something or some help. If there is a person in our life, whom we consider our friend, and because of one reason or the other s/he is unable to help us in that moment of ‘need’, does that eliminate him/her from being called our friend? In my life, it doesn’t.
Few years back, i got to see a poster bearing a very small and simple definition of friend – “A friend is a person with whom you dare to be yourself”. This definition was one of the many definitions of friend which had i read and heard but after a lot of thought process, i realised that this one was definitely special and had a deep impact on my mind. This definition links directly to the phenomenon of masking. I may even say, “A friend is a person with whom you need not wear any masks.” It is also often said that a friend is the only relation which one gets to choose by himself/herself. This saying too complements the definition on the poster as only we can decide that with whom we need a mask and with whom we don’t. This is nothing else but the comfort level that we feel while we are with that person.
A friend need not be someone with whom we study in our class, work with in office, play with in our neighbourhood, et cetera. Even one’s father, mother, boss, junior, employee, or anyone else can be one’s friend. A friend in life is definitely the most prized possession and being someone’s friend is nothing short of an achievement. With only a friend can we share our life – our moments of happiness, of sorrow, our confessions, our affairs, our anger, our laughter, our tears, and what not…. everything… and when i say everything, i MEAN everything. We can act to be ourself with many people but the key word in the definition is dare. While acting, we are always cautious and take every care not to commit any mistake in revealing our inner self but while with a friend, we need not be cautious and can dare be what we truly are! Just think about it and you’ll get to know your friends.
We have made living something as simple as life very complex and this is the reason that a simple word, a simple relation like friend is becoming so difficult to understand and comprehend. Hence, some literary great had to give this famous saying. “If you find one friend in life, you have found a gem. If you find two, you have found a treasure. If you find three………… sorry, you can’t find three!” In this highly manipulating and masked world, this saying holds relevance more than ever. I reiterate, its very simple – “A friend is a person with whom you dare to be yourself”. If you agree, try to apply it in your life like i do. I’m sure it’ll help.
Dedicated to: My friend.
