Friendship: A bond that last for lifetime

Aminul Islam: Human beings are social creatures and have always valued the importance of friends in their lives. To celebrate this noble feeling it was deemed fit to have a day dedicated to friends and friendship.

Friendship is a unique relationship; it cannot be compared with other relationship. It is a kind of a relationship of mutual affection between two or more people or groups. It is like a strong form of interpersonal bonding and communication among the friends.

Accordingly, first Sunday of August was declared as a holiday in US in honor of friends by a Proclamation made by US Congress in 1935. Since then, World Friendship Day is being celebrated every year on the first Sunday in the month of August.

A World Happiness Database study found that people with close friendships are happier. So friendship is a sign of happiness. Honouring the relationship, the day has been celebrated as ‘International Friendship Day’ for many years. The exchange of Friendship Day gifts like flowers, cards and wrist bands is a popular tradition of this occasion.

International Friendship Day is a day for celebrating friendship. According to the Wikipedia, the day has been celebrated in several southern South American countries for many years, particularly in Paraguay, where the first World Friendship Day was proposed in 1958.

The idea was proposed on 20 July by Dr. Artemio Bracho during a dinner with friends in Puerto Pinasco, a town on the River Paraguay,  about 200 miles north of Asuncion, Paraguay. Out of this humble meeting of friends, the World Friendship Crusade was born.

The World Friendship Crusade is a foundation that promotes friendship and fellowship among all human beings, regardless of race, colour or religion. Since then, 30 July has been faithfully celebrated as Friendship Day in Paraguay every year and has also been adopted by several other countries.

 

Initially the Friendship Day was created by the greeting card industry, evidence from social networking sites shows a revival of interest in the holiday that may have grown with the spread of the Internet, particularly in Asian region, such as India, Bangladesh, and Malaysia.

Digital communication modes such as the internet and mobile phones may be helping to popularize the custom, since greeting friends enormously is now easier than before. One thing needs to be mentioned, Friendship Day celebrations occur on different dates in different countries.

The first World Friendship Day was proposed for 30 July in 1958, by the World Friendship Crusade. On 27 April 2011 the General Assembly of the United Nations declared 30 July as official International Friendship Day.

However, some countries, including India, celebrate Friendship Day on the first Sunday of August. In Oberlin, Ohio, Friendship Day is celebrated on 8 April each year. It is one of the most popular events of the world, especially to the youth community, who want to dedicate this complete day to their most special friends by sharing friendship day quotes and playing games like the invisible friend.

Friendship Day was originally promoted by Joyce Hall, the founder of Hallmark cards in 1930, intended to be 2nd August and a day when people celebrated their friendships by sending cards. The second of August was chosen as the centre of the largest lull between holiday celebrations.

Friendship Day was promoted by the greeting card National Association during the 1920s but met with consumer resistance - given that it was too obviously a commercial gimmick to promote greetings cards.

By the 1940s the number of Friendship Day cards available in the US had dwindled and the holiday largely died out there. There is no evidence to date for its uptake in Europe; however, it has been kept alive and revitalised in Asia, where several countries have adopted it.

 

Some friends acknowledge each other with exchanges of gifts and cards on this day. Friendship bands are very popular in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and parts of South America. With the advent of social networking sites, Friendship Day is also being celebrated online.

Nowadays Dhaka is so busy and full of traffic, so if you are all busy during the day, plan to go out to dinner with your friends. Dress up in your finest and have a fun night that`s different and rocking. If possible host a Friendship Dinner Party at your home as well.

To celebrate the Friendship Day, different television channels broadcast different programmes based on friendship day. As there are so many television channels, young people can watch interesting tele-films and dramas on the day.

To commemorate the friendship day every year there takes different types of programmes. Various young cultural activists and artists go there and celebrate the day. There youth can draw inspiration from the heritage of Beauty Boarding and play a constructive role in the development of the country.

As Teacher-Student Centre (TSC), a hub of University of Dhaka, it is also a very popular place to celebrate the day for the university. Every year the students of the university and even students from many other universities in Dhaka gather there to celebrate the day. Especially, the day is celebrated at the education institutions across the country.

 
risingbd/Aug 02, 2015/Aminul