Friendship like wine gets better with age. But there is this important need for nourishing it, fostering it in the initial stages when it is in the nascent state, when misunderstandings abound. There is nothing like stooping in self esteem to placate a friend who has been hurt. It is always worth it. even when the bonding is strong enough to endure serious quarrels also, there is no scope for complacency.

Man is a social animal. Sounds too clich'd.  But try to look a little deeper and you'll find a world of interesting aspects. This is because, it is one thing to live. The day you entered this world, you started to live, and live you will, till the day you breathe. It is yet another thing to lead a life, it involves interaction with other individuals, adapting and evolving.  It is, however, a completely different thing to lead a meaningful life. For it involves a complicated interaction with other people to elicit a useful relationship from others for yourself and vice versa. In this context friendship is a primary form of relationship.  By friendship I do not mean a 9:00 to 5:00 sort, or the "Hello! How do you do"... "Fine! Thank you, and you?" type. I mean friendship, with a sense of belonging, responsibility.  Just imagine... there are a few billion people on terra firma. A billion in your country, a million in your city, a thousand you know. But it is indeed amazing that of all these people, a few we understand, who make a difference in our lives.  Each person leads his own thread of life. Its is as though God, in his inimitable fashion, decided to delicately intertwine a few of these threads, to create a beautiful fabric of life, of friendship. Each thread is a different color, different texture, but the fabric is so seamless, so harmonious.

A zillion incidents. Seemingly insignificant, yet priceless to you, and the friend, who shared it with you, who was there when it happened. The first few apprehensive steps, haltingly spoken words, lead to more substantial words shared, and cherished, stored in the deep recesses of your hearts. The day you talked about your first crush, the day you learnt to cycle, the mischief you committed in school, and got caught, and were taken to task... Something you achieved, and were very happy, and your friend was happy for the sheer fact that you were happy!!! 

Friendship like wine gets better with age. But there is this important need for nourishing it, fostering it in the initial stages when it is in the nascent state, when misunderstandings abound. There is nothing like stooping in self esteem to placate a friend who has been hurt. It is always worth it. even when the bonding is strong enough to endure serious quarrels also, there is no scope for complacency. 

There is this beautiful thing about good friendship. That is, understanding. Friends need not keep talking to each other every few min. There is an implicit understanding of care implied, an implicit understanding that you are missed, an implicit understanding that not keeping in touch does not mean that one is forgotten. Friendship has to be shared, for it to become stronger. Pure platonic friendship is such a tenacious bond between people. There is no romance involved, still the affection and love for a friend is implied and understood. 

I fail to recollect the source, but I can't but mention at this stage. "Blessed is the man who hath a true friend he can trust". God has been very generous to me in this aspect I have a number of understanding friends. Innumerable are the instances and incidents that I hold close to my heart, that I have shared with my friends. 

All the same I pray to God, to give me more friends, for I believe that this is an area where avarice is not a cardinal sin.