Friends: Childhood friends, school friends, college friends, office friends (oops colleagues), Facebook friends, G+ friends, Twitter friends, LinkedIn friends, foursquare friends, close friends, casual friends, timepass friends, JLT friends, chat friends, sms friends, just hi-hello friends, best friends.
As a child growing up in a small city with the dream of the entire world on his mind and a zillion other aspirations I pause today to think at 3:00am in the morning. What happened to that just one word: Friends! When did it get so many ramifications? When did it lose its meaning? Back in during kindergarten days it was just friends or not friends; friendship was never so complicated, never such a challenge.
Today organizing a get together of friends involves a series of events: Chain mails, suggestions, rejections, venue, time, place, date, then rejections, modifications, alterations, rants, complains, a bit if bitching moaning and some more ranting and finally after a week or two, if lucky, a meeting place, time and venue was decided! Bear in mind that this chain mail was still privy to a few! An invitation only get together! Whatever happened to the good old days when a single yell could bring out an army of people good enough to form two soccer teams? It still amazes me to think how could we back in our school days manage to get everyone assemble at one time without as much as a cellphone or an sms!
And why all this today? Thanks to an intense and mindlessly numbing weekend trying to gather and make sense of the wreck of some of my friends. SO why do people fight and misunderstand each other when they say that they care for each other so much? Is it too much to ask some one for an emotional support? Is it too much is you want some one to be a better person than (s)he is now? Is it wrong to pretend to be someone else so that the other could be happy? Answers differ according to the sides you listen to!
I have been told that it's not too much if you ask a friend to be your emotional support! After all (s)he is YOUR friend! But then if (s)he is actually your friend, you would never have to actually ASK him/her in the first place! Friendship comes naturally! It's not a forced agenda or a feeling that you can shove down one's throat! But then is it wrong to expect one of your closest friend to be there for you emotionally? Nope it is not! Expect! But then don't assume it IS going to happen! (s)he might not be there! 'Cos if (s)he had to (s)he would!
Is is wrong if you want your best friend to be a better person that (s)he is right now? Oooooo!! Tricky question! How do you define better? What is better? What is correct for Paul may not be right for Peter! You don't go around changing friends because you think that they can or will be better! If that's the case find out the changed person and not try to find a person and change it to that! But then should one put on a mask to make the other friend happy? Again tricky! Does that mask make you feel happy too? "Yeah why not", "well, may be", "err.. what the hell..ya": these are just some of the answers that might lead you to an eventual hell. Do NOT do what you are not comfortable with 'cos sooner or later it's gonna come back and bit you right on your ass!
As for me! Do I have friends? Hell ya! Of all the mentioned categories? Well ya! Am I proud of it? That's not even a relevant question!
Today if I want to text a friend at 4:00am in the morning and want him/her to reply.. will I succeed? Well probably or probably not! That's where I feel is the void! And unfortunately, even after having a zillion categories of friends not, I do NOT actually have that void filled in!
Facebook, nope you're still not there!
Old school still rules!
Au revoir!
As a child growing up in a small city with the dream of the entire world on his mind and a zillion other aspirations I pause today to think at 3:00am in the morning. What happened to that just one word: Friends! When did it get so many ramifications? When did it lose its meaning? Back in during kindergarten days it was just friends or not friends; friendship was never so complicated, never such a challenge.
Today organizing a get together of friends involves a series of events: Chain mails, suggestions, rejections, venue, time, place, date, then rejections, modifications, alterations, rants, complains, a bit if bitching moaning and some more ranting and finally after a week or two, if lucky, a meeting place, time and venue was decided! Bear in mind that this chain mail was still privy to a few! An invitation only get together! Whatever happened to the good old days when a single yell could bring out an army of people good enough to form two soccer teams? It still amazes me to think how could we back in our school days manage to get everyone assemble at one time without as much as a cellphone or an sms!
And why all this today? Thanks to an intense and mindlessly numbing weekend trying to gather and make sense of the wreck of some of my friends. SO why do people fight and misunderstand each other when they say that they care for each other so much? Is it too much to ask some one for an emotional support? Is it too much is you want some one to be a better person than (s)he is now? Is it wrong to pretend to be someone else so that the other could be happy? Answers differ according to the sides you listen to!
I have been told that it's not too much if you ask a friend to be your emotional support! After all (s)he is YOUR friend! But then if (s)he is actually your friend, you would never have to actually ASK him/her in the first place! Friendship comes naturally! It's not a forced agenda or a feeling that you can shove down one's throat! But then is it wrong to expect one of your closest friend to be there for you emotionally? Nope it is not! Expect! But then don't assume it IS going to happen! (s)he might not be there! 'Cos if (s)he had to (s)he would!
Is is wrong if you want your best friend to be a better person that (s)he is right now? Oooooo!! Tricky question! How do you define better? What is better? What is correct for Paul may not be right for Peter! You don't go around changing friends because you think that they can or will be better! If that's the case find out the changed person and not try to find a person and change it to that! But then should one put on a mask to make the other friend happy? Again tricky! Does that mask make you feel happy too? "Yeah why not", "well, may be", "err.. what the hell..ya": these are just some of the answers that might lead you to an eventual hell. Do NOT do what you are not comfortable with 'cos sooner or later it's gonna come back and bit you right on your ass!
As for me! Do I have friends? Hell ya! Of all the mentioned categories? Well ya! Am I proud of it? That's not even a relevant question!
Today if I want to text a friend at 4:00am in the morning and want him/her to reply.. will I succeed? Well probably or probably not! That's where I feel is the void! And unfortunately, even after having a zillion categories of friends not, I do NOT actually have that void filled in!
Facebook, nope you're still not there!
Old school still rules!
Au revoir!
