Friends &	TOPICAL JOURNEY		English
			February 2013
			27
Friendship

“Friends are born, not made.” Henry Adams

“We do not so much need the help of our friends as the confidence of their help in need.” Epicurus

“What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.”

Aristotle

“One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.”

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

“A friend is one who knows us, but loves us anyway.”

Jerome Cummings

“What is a friend? I will tell you...it is someone with whom you dare to be yourself.”

Frank Crane

“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.”

Walter Winchell

“The only way to have a friend is to be one.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

“...no man is useless while he has a friend.” Robert Louis Stevenson

“A friend is a present you give yourself.” Robert Louis Stevenson

“Life is partly what we make it, and partly what is made by the friends whom we choose.” Tehyi Hsieh

“Friends are the sunshine of life.” John Hay

“There is no hope of joy except in human relations.”

Antoine de Sainte-Exupery

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no

survival value; rather it is one of
“those things that give value to
survival.	“

C. S. Lewis

TOPICAL JOURNEY
Friendship Day......................................	28
Importance of Friendship in Bible ...........	29
Friendship Stories..................................	30
Conversational Questions .......................	30
Symbols of Friendship............................	32
What Kind of a Friends are you?............	32
Friendship, Love & Marriage.................	33
Know Your Zodiac as a Friend ...............	33
Friendship Movies and Cartoons ............	34
Friendship Literature .............................	36
Shakespeare Quotations on Friendship ....	36
Letter Writing .......................................	40
Idioms about Friendship.........................	40
Email Etiquette .....................................	41

English

TOPICAL JOURNEY

28

February 2013

FRIENDSHIP DAY CELEBRATION IDEAS

Friendship Day is the perfect occasion to let your friends know how much they are needed and loved. The day calls for celebrations and enjoyment in the company of closed pals and chums!! The best way to celebrate Friendship Day would be to spend the day in a way your friendship group enjoys the most. In case you want to be creative and do something different to mark this significant day, here are some Friendship Day celebration ideas just for you. So go ahead and have a fabulous and over-the-top Friendship Day celebration!

ORGANIZE A FRIENDSHIP DAY PARTY

The most special way to celebrate Friendship

Day would be hold a party for your new friends and old and have a blast. However, this idea needs a little planning and effort as you need to decide where to party, how to party, what to include in menu, what music to play. Once that’s done, call up your buddies and just have your fling!

Here are some ideas of celebrating Friendship Day. The idea is to spend quality time with your friends and have a great time.

Sharing Thoughts and Views

For many the best kind of Friendship Day celebration is perhaps a heart-to-heart talk with a soul mate. Sharing everything that has mattered to you and your friend for so long and for so many days and catching up with each other’s life is a relaxing way of celebrating Friendship Day.

Recollect Sweet Memories

A great way to celebrate Friendship Day in a memorable way would be make an album of your most intimate and special moments spent together. This can also be the most touching

Friendship Day activity for you and your friend as it will help you to rewind and relive your timetested bonding.

Make a Poster

A great idea to celebrate friendship in a creative manner would be to create a poster on Friendship Day. For instance you may paint your name and your friend’s name on it creatively and revel in the joy when your friend flashes that million-dollar smile.

Friendship Day

The tradition of celebrating Friendship Day began in 1935 when the US Congress decided to dedicate a day in the honor of friends. Though it is not known exactly what were the reasons that went into the making of this day, the retrospection of the world scenario of those times can lead us to an understanding. With the devastating effects of the First World War still showing and increasing hostilities, mistrust and hatred between countries providing the perfect conditions for another imminent battle, there was a greater need for friendship and camaraderie not only among nations but also among individuals.

Hence, the US Congress decided to designate the first Sunday of the month of August as Friendship Day and with a formal proclamation in 1935, officially declared the occasion a holiday dedicated in the honour of friends and friendship. Since then, celebration of National Friendship Day became an annual event. The lofty idea of honoring the beautiful relationship of friendship caught on with the people, particularly the youngsters all over the country, and in no time Friendship Day became a highly popular festival.

But the success of this wonderful occasion was not to be limited to the US alone. With time, several other countries followed suit in adopting the tradition of dedicating a day to the cause of friendship. The beautiful idea of having a day in the honor of friends was joyously taken over by several other countries across the world. With more and more nations joining in the celebrations, Friendship Day soon became International Friendship Day.

Today, Friendship Day is enthusiastically celebrated every year by many countries. The occasion is observed on the first Sunday of every August. The traditional celebrations include meeting with friends and exchanging of cards, flowers and gifts. Many social and cultural organizations also celebrate Friendship Day by hosting programs and get togethers. Special performances by rock bands are also organized in countries like the US to enhance the jubilations.

In 1997, the United Nations named Winnie - the Pooh, the famous cartoon character as the world’s Ambassador of Friendship.

It is interesting to note how some associations observe Friendship Day with different customs, by giving the festival different names and holding it in times unlike that of the actual festival. For example, National Friendship Day is held on the first Sunday in August; Women’s Friendship Day is on the third Sunday in August; the third week of May is the Old Friends, New Friends Week and the whole of February is designated as the International Friendship Month.

These days, Friendship Day is celebrated with a lot of fanfare and great expense. Just as in the US and several other countries, the festival has been greatly commercialized.

Days before the festival, card and gift companies launch an extensive campaign to lure people into buying cards and gift items for their friends. Companies indulge in aggressive marketing to target youngsters, the main celebrators of festivals as these, and entice them into purchasing expensive articles for their pals. Restaurateurs too offer special discounts to make the most of the time. This marketing strategy has been severely criticized by many people and is a subject of debate every year. Many feel that such rampant commercialization has marred the very concept of Friendship Day and

has turned it into a mere formality. Many, on the other hand, think that greater hype and hoopla around the occasion has helped to generate awareness about Friendship Day festivals which was till recently a low-key affair (compared to occasions as “Mother’s Day” and “Father’s Day”) and thus promote friendship and brotherhood.

The popular customs of Friendship Day include handing over roses, especially pink and yellow ones. The day is observed with great exhilaration and merriment, with friends throwing parties, gorging on lip-smacking dishes and drinking hard (be it at home or at restaurants that offer special discounts for this occasion).

A highly popular thing associated with the day is the well-known Friendship Band

– the modern day token of friendship that friends gift to one another to form an everlasting bond. Friendship bands are favorite items for youngsters and are available in stores all over the country. Girls go in for friendship bracelets instead of the conventional friendship wristbands. Friendship Poems and Friendship Day Gifts are exchanged between best friends to renew the bond of friendship and express gratitude and love for each other. These are new ways of celebration of this day that the GenX has invented.

Since its inception in 1935, Friendship Day and its celebrations have come a long way. But however much the ways of celebration have changed, the basic idea behind the occasion remains the same. Friendship Day remains the time when you acknowledge your friends’ contribution in your life, express love for them, cherish their presence in your life and pay them a tribute.

Today, Friendship Day is being celebrated around the globe, across diverse cultures and social segments.

TRIBUTE TO A FRIEND

Friendship Day is celebrated in honor of friends who make our lives so special and help us give a meaningful direction to our lives. On Friendship Day people must pay sincerest tribute to friends, both old and new, and appreciate the important role played by them in shaping their lives.

SIGNIFICANCE OF FRIENDS

True friendship is about putting your feet up and knowing that someone is there to bail you out when the world might walk out on you. Besides, as a support system in today’s hectic world, friends are the most reliable sources for social, intellectual and creative stimulation.

In the present fast pace age of nuclear families, where people have little time to spend with each other, friends have become indispensable. Then, there are times when we find it tough to discuss matters with our family members or even with our spouse, it is on occasions such as these that friends come to our support. They guide us and become our pillar of strength when we need them most. And the best part is we don’t really need to put things in words when communicating issues to our best friends. Most often friends understand us, just by looking at us or hearing our voice. This heart-to-heart bonding is what makes friendship so exclusive, setting it apart from all other relationships.

SIGNIFICANCE OF EXPRESSING LOVE TO FRIENDS

Howsoever strong a relationship maybe, it constantly needs to be nurtured with love and care. We must therefore never lose an opportunity to express our feelings and the warmth we may be experiencing for our friends. We may do this by sending flowers, a heartfelt card or a thoughtful gift. We may also do this by being together with a friend in times of joy or sorrow. The idea is to keep expressing our unconditional love and support to our dearest friend let the friendship evolve.

http://www.theholidayspot.com; www.friendshipday.org

TOPICAL JOURNEY		English
		29
		February 2013

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: “What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” C.S. Lewis

IMPORTANCE OF FRIENDSHIP IN BIBLE

The Bible, the primary text of western civilization, reflects upon friendship as the bond that forms the foundation to human faith, trust and companionship. The following verses from the Bible aptly portray the importance of friends:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

Matthew 7:7

“Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

John 15:13-15

Besides, there are several tales from the Old Testament and the New Testament about the value of friendship and how true friendship is a treasure to unearth. A noticeable point is that, both the versions make a difference between the two broad meanings of friendshipone is a mere acquaintance, the other is a more affectionate relation.

In the Old Testament, Abraham is called the “friend of God” because of the intimacy of his relations. God speaks to Moses face to face “as a man…unto his friend” (Ex 33:11). The affectionate friendship of Ruth and Naomi, the devotion of the subordinate Hushai for David, or the mutual relation between David and Jonathan - the Old Testament is replete with these interesting tales of friends and friendship.

In the New Testament, the relationship between Jesus and his disciples clearly depicts how human friendship can constantly grow. From being teacher and disciple, to lord and servant their relationship finally grew to an unparalleled friendship.

IMPORTANCE OF FRIENDSHIP IN MAHABHARATA

In the famous Hindu epic ‘Mahabharata’, Lord Krishna demonstrates the many colors of friendship - affection, romance, brotherhood, protection, guidance, intimacy and even teasing. Friendship is all about these and much more.

	English
			TOPICAL JOURNEY
30					Friendship Stories
	February 2013
CONVERSATION QUESTIONS					THE HARE WITH MANY FRIENDS
FRIENDS
					(Aesop’s Fable)
• What is a friend?
• Are there any famous stories of friendship in					A Hare was very popular with the other animals in
	your culture?				the jungle who all claimed to be her friends. One day
• Can you describe one of your closest friends?					she heard the hounds approaching her and hoped to
• Do you have any childhood friendships that					escape them by the aid of her Friends. So, she went to
	are still strong today? Tell us about them.				the horse, and asked him to carry her away from the
• Do you have any long distance friends?					hounds on his back. But he declined, stating that he
•	How do you keep in touch with your long-
					had important work to do for his master. “He felt sure,”
	distance friends?
•					he said, “that all her other friends would come to her
	How often do you see your long-distance
	friends?				assistance.” She then applied to the bull, and hoped
• Do you think it is a good idea to borrow mon-					that he would repel the hounds with his horns. The bull
	ey from a friend? Why or why not?				replied: “I am very sorry, but I have an appointment
• Do you make friends easily?					with a lady; but I feel sure that our friend the goat will
• Has a friend ever let you down?					do what you want.” The goat, however, feared that his
• Have you made any friends over the Internet?					back might do her some harm if he took her upon it.
• How often do you write to them?
					The ram, he felt sure, was the proper friend to ask for
• Have you ever met them in person?
					help. So she went to the ram and told him the case. The ram replied: “Another time,
• How are your friendships different now than
	they were when you were a child?				my dear friend. I do not like to interfere on the present occasion, as hounds have been
• How do you maintain a good friendship?					known to eat sheep as well as hares.” The Hare then applied, as a last hope, to the calf,
• How do you make new friends?					who regretted that he was unable to help her, as he did not like to take the responsibility
• Is it common to have friendships across gen-					upon himself, as so many older persons than himself had declined the task. By this time
	erations?				the hounds were quite near, and the Hare took to her heels and luckily escaped.
• What are the advantages and disadvantages					Moral of the story: He that has many friends, has no friends.
	of these types of friendships.
• Do you have any friends from a different gen-					TWO FROGS
	eration than you?
• There is a saying "To have a good friend, you					A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep
	need to be a good friend." How can you be				pit. When the other frogs saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they
	a good friend?				were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of
• What do you usually do with your friends?					the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as
• What factors may result in the breakdown of
					good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying
	a good friendship?
					and gave up. He fell down and died.
• What is a best friend?
• How many “best friends” do you have?					The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs
• What is the longest friendship that you have					yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it
	had?				out. When he got out, the other frogs said, “Did you not hear us?” The frog explained to
• What makes friends different from family?					them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.
• What qualities do you think are important in a					Lessons of the story: There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encourag-
	friend?				ing word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the
• What things should friends never do?
					day. So be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. The power
• Why do you like your best friend?
					of words... it is sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can go such a
•	What are some things you like about your
	best friend?				long way.
• Where is a good place to meet new friends?
• Where is a good place to meet a new boy-					FRIENDSHIP FOREVER
•	friend/girlfriend?				Two inseparable friends, Sam and Jason, met with an accident on their way to Bos-
	Do you think it is possible to have a best
					ton. The following morning, Jason woke up blind and Sam was still unconscious. Dr.
	friend of the opposite sex without becoming
					Berkeley was standing at his bedside looking at his health chart and medications with
	a girlfriend or boyfriend?
					a thoughtful expression on his face. When he saw Sam awake, he beamed at him and
• Do you think it would be possible for you still
	be friends with an ex-boyfriend or ex-girl-				asked, “How are you feeling today Sam?” Sam tried to put up a brave face and smiled
	friend?				back saying, “absolutely wonderful Doctor. I am very grateful for all that you have done
• There is a proverb that says, "A friend in need					for me.” Dr Berkeley was moved at Sam’s deed. All that he could say was, “You are a
	is a friend indeed." Do you agree?				very brave man Sam and God will make it up to you in one way or another.” While he
• Do you believe that there is an end to any					was moving on to the next patient, Sam called back at him almost pleading, “Promise
	true friendships?
					me you won’t tell Jason anything.”
• Do you believe your parents should be your
					“You know I won’t do that. Trust me.” and walked away.
	friends?
					“Thank you,” whispered Sam. He smiled and looked up in prayer, “I hope I live up
• Friendship is the most important relationship.
	Do you agree? Why? Why not?				to your ideal... please give me the strength to be able to go through this... Amen.”
• What are some ways your best friend has in-					Months later when Jason had recuperated considerably, he stopped hanging around with
	fluenced your life in a positive way?				Sam. He felt discouraged and embarrassed to spend time with a disabled person like Sam.
• How close do you get to your friends?					Sam was lonely and disheartened, since he didn’t have anybody other than Jason
• Why do you need a friend?					to count on. Things went from bad to worse. And one day Sam died in despair. When
• What do you do when you have a misunder-
					Jason was called on his burial, he found a letter waiting for him. Dr Berkeley gave it to
	standing with your friend?
• Do you trust all of your friends? Why or why
	not?			Sources: www.taleswithmorals.com

him with an expressionless face and said, “This is for you Jason. Sam had asked me to give it to you when he was gone.”

In the letter he had said: “Dear Jason, I have kept my promise in the end to lend you my eyes if anything happened to them. Now there is nothing more that I can ask from God, than the fact, that you will see the world through my eyes. You will always be my best friend. Sam.”

When he had finished reading, Dr Berkeley said, “I had promised Sam to keep the sacrifice he made a secret from you. But now I wish I hadn’t stuck to it. Because I don’t think it was worth it.”

All that was left for Jason while he stood there, was tears of regret and memories of Sam for the rest of his life.

Lesson of the story: No matter what, if we make a friend, we should stick by him till the end. Life is meaningless without a friend.

A TRUE FRIEND (Socrates)

In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day one fellow met the great philosopher and said, “Do you know what I just heard about your friend?” “Hold on a minute,” Socrates replied. “Before telling me anything I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the Triple Filter Test.” “Triple filter?” “That’s right,” Socrates continued. “Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. That’s why I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?” “No,” the man said, “actually I just heard about it and...” “All right,” said Socrates. “So you don’t know if it’s true or not. Now let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?” “No, on the contrary...” “So,” Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something bad about him, but you’re not certain it’s true. You may still pass the test though, because there’s one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?” “No, not really.” “Well,” concluded Socrates, “if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?”

Lesson: We can always participate in loose talks to curb our boredom. But when it comes to your friends it’s not worth it. Always avoid talking behind their backs about your near and dear friends.

FRIENDS IN THE DESERT

Two friends were walking through the desert. At some point in the journey, they had an argument and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand:

“Today my best friend slapped me in the face.”

They kept on walking, until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone:

“Today my best friend saved my life.”

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?”

The friend replied, when someone hurts us we should write it down in sand, where the winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”

http://iteslj.org/questions/friends.html

TOPICAL JOURNEY		English
		31
		February 2013

•What is the best time for making new friends?

•What was your best friendship?

•Are you still friends with him or her?

•What life lessons did you learn from this relationship?

•What qualities do you appreciate in your friends? What makes someone special or best friend?

•Why are friendships important for you? Do you still maintain friendships from the past?

•How long have you known your best friend?

Where did you meet and what did you have in common?

•What are some good opportunities to meet new people?

•How can you get to know a person better?

•What is the relationship between love and friendship?

•Who is the most interesting person you have ever met?

•Do you think famous people are happier than ordinary people? Why?

•What type of people do you get along with best?

•What quality do you admire most in people and which one do you find the most objectionable?

•What behavior of others hurts you most? When you have upset someone by your actions, what do you try to do?

•What do you consider to be your good and bad qualities?

•What qualities help you to have good relationships with others?

•What traits or actions make an interpersonal conflict worse?

•Do you think that dysfunctional family life contributes to worsening relationships in society?

•Is getting along with others a natural ability from birth or does it have to be learnt?

•How important is forgiveness in human relationships?

•Can you be friends with your student if you are a teacher? Or with a teacher if you are a student?

•To what extent can you be friends with your child? Or with your parent?

•Do you tell your best friend everything?

•Do you have a close group of friends?

•What do you usually do together?

•Do you ever fight with your friends?

•How often do you talk with your friends?

•What is the difference between friendship and 'kinship' (blood relatives)?

•Do you have different groups of friends who never meet one another?

•Are you a different 'self' with each group?

•Do you think these groups would get along if you introduced them to one another?

•Would you want these friends to mix,or do you get something different from each set of relationships?

•There is a saying that "to lose a friend you need to start sharing a flat with him/her". Do you agree? Why/Why not?

•What would you do if your best friend, that never betrayed you and you thought your relationship to be brother/sister asked you out on a date?

•Do you think you can find eternal friendships through the internet?