There are people whom you love and respect. They are called family. “Blood is thicker than water” is a cliché which is used to explain the impetus of a family over any other relationship. But this most sacrosanct of the relationship comes with its own can of worms. There are inhibitions and restrictions and a pecking order based on hierarchies. There are two kinds of bonds that exist between people. The bonds based out of respect also have a flip side. They then distance people. The connection based on love is the purest of all but it also has a Damocles sword of expectations hanging around all the time. There is another kind of relation which is neither distant nor too close to be stifled by expectations. This is perhaps the most meaningful and fluid of all relations possible. It is Friendship. 

“No Man is an island is an old maxim. Even in the movie Castaway, the protagonist played by Tom Hanks carves ears, eyes and mouth into a coconut, gives it a persona, because, isolated and marooned on this Island, he is desperate to speak to another human being. This is his frantic effort at getting as close by creating a simulacrum of a human being. We all believe in co-existing and the need to collaborate and socialize and grow and evolve together. Throughout our life, we cross paths with many people and we establish lasting bonds with some of them. These are the bonds of Friendship. 

Friends are an integral aspect of our life. They bring a shared sense of security and cohesiveness to our life. They are the instruments of our catharsis, we consider them our confidants and open our hearts to them. They are the only people with whom we choose to be vulnerable without fair of slander, gossip or a backlash. People progress in their friendships through common economic and socio-cultural goals. Friendship is an anomalous institution which neither needs any legal sanction nor is it shackled by religion. It is the most ubiquitous dynamics that exist in any place where people cross paths. But in a much-layered world we live in today, Friendship is fraught with the perils of selfish and vested interests. 

As a Mahatman, we believe in the positivity that a Great Friendship brings to the person. True friends are honest with each other. A friend will never say what makes you happy, he or she will say what according to them the right thing is. A great friend will be a hard taskmaster, brutal and honest. He or she will nudge their friend to do what it must take to become a better and greater person. A great friend will be a stickler for no excuses. Difference between fair-weather friends and true friends is that the first kind will stick around with you when you are doing well, the later will stick around to ensure that you do well. Friendship is a bridge between two people and it is two-way osmosis. Both individuals feed into each other for the betterment of each other. It is a give and takes of perspectives, ideas, great intentions and synergy. 

Friendship is not a thing for entertainment. It is not a pastime. Friendship is a potent catalyst for self-actualization. When you are surrounded by the right kind of friends, you will evolve and actualize at a faster pace. Friendship is all about collaboration. It is also about healthy competition. It is like the race where competitors dare each other to put their best forward, it is also like the Ubuntu where they have a blast no matter who wins. Friendship is a highly private space in the arena of the mind. There can be no trespassing and trespassers for all their effort will be hopelessly lost. 

And friendship need not be a privilege of people who are unrelated, it is also a beautiful ombudsman between relations of various kind- Husband and wife, siblings, parents and their kids. Vincent Van Gogh is known for his extremely powerful and tempestuous painting style. This artist who was crazy about his passion for his art was also extremely innocent when it came to matters of life and survival. It was his brother Theo who unconditionally supported him through his maelstrom life of 39 years. Theo supported him financially at the cost of taking a pinch with himself and his family. Theo even named his own son as Vincent. When Vincent Van Gogh shot himself at the age of 39 in a frenzy of passion, Theo was so broke he never recovered, he himself languished to his death within the next six months. 

Friendship is a commitment without commitments. It is a rubric without fences. Friendship has more fluidity than any other relationship. It can take the shape of any relationship and fill up the void. That is why friendship is one of the most paramount relations in one’s life. Let me step into the shoes of Polonius and tell you all my dear Hamlets three great things about Friendship- 

1. Friend speak- Great Friends never judge each other, but they do give earnest advice. Advice that is critical and need of the hour. Friends will never call you out in public, but they will always play the devil’s advocate and tell you what you should hear rather than what you want to hear. Be wary of people who always sit on a fence when asked for advice. Friends will plunge all the way and squeeze your heart out. Friends know that what needs to be said must be said. They will bite the bullet for you. 
2. Friendsmism- Great Friends will never display behaviour that brings down the energy of the group. They will always try to be a solution rather than the problem. They will criticize with an intent to improve. They will always make it about the process and not about a person. They will never make you a scapegoat. Their optimism will give you immunity.
3. FriendSjest- Great friends unhinge you from the seriousness of life. They do this a colossal amount of humour. Humour has a great potency to improve our mood, fill us with energy and see the challenges of life in a different light. Humour is nothing but a literal twist on the struggles and ironies of life. Friends are those syringes which keep injecting us with our daily dose of humour. 
4. FriendSone- Great friends form very intimate ubuntu of sorts. It is a web of camaraderie which operates on all levels – physical, mental, emotional. Nothing heals like the rapt attention and well-intended words of a friend. A pat on the back or a warm hug conveys goes a long way into bolstering the fabric of your emotional health.