Friends are a great source of encouragement and support. We all do have companions but few of us have true, good and lifelong friends.

The most important basis for any good friendship is trust. In friendship, one likes to share one’s joy and sorrows and confide one's faults and weaknesses but if the friend talks about these faults to others, then the friendship is betrayed. Genuine friendship is made and nurtured based on selflessness, mutual appreciation and, sympathy. It is based on the principle of give! and take. We look to our friends for support and in times of need. And in return, we too must. support our friends. That is why it has been said: A friend in need is a friend indeed. Many people flock around a rich man! claiming to be his friends. But as soon as the rich man loses his wealth most of his friends desert him just as rats desert a sinking ship. Only those friends who stand by him, through thick and thin, are dependable friends. There is a story of two friends. one of which was condemned to death. His last wish was to see his family. His friend begged the king to let him go and promised to stay in his place till he returned. And if he did not return, the king could execute him in his place. The king gave him a week to visit his family On the last day when the man did not return, the king decided to execute his friend. Just in the nick of time he returned and pleaded that he had been delayed due to stormy weather. He thanked his friend and was ready to face the execution. The king was so impressed with their friendship that he freed both the friends.. Such friendship is truly sincere and ideal.

But if we talk about today’s scenario friendships are somehow more conditional, as we organise ourselves online into "echo chambers" of like-minded individuals and reject differing views. Even the word "friend" has been transformed by social media, there's a new sense in which being friends with an individual just means having clicked "accept" on their friend request on social apps without ever greeting each other. In today’s world, anyone can be your friend, including that person you never really liked in school or college or the neighbour you have only waved at once or a friend of a friend of a friend–you get the picture. Friendships aren't what they used to be. Restaurants are filled with people staring at their phones instead of talking. Selfie culture has turned us into somebody who doesn't care about anybody but themselves. who care more about managing our own PR which means building more relations into super fans than about being present with each other. We have long been moved by stories of friendships. We interact only with people who serve us, where we don't recognise our friends without their Snapchat filters, and where we don't form genuine clear connections with anyone. There's pervasive anxiety that true friendship is in decline. What about the idea that we now live in a world in which friendship has reduced quality? Social media encourage us to value quantity over quality. No face-to-face conversations. No playdates. No visiting friends. The word "friend" has been transformed by social media. Many of your social media and gaming friends are nothing more than contacts. They are probably not great friends, but they are also not fake friends. The word friendship may meet today’s broader definition but they don’t meet the definition of a real friend. Instead, they are the “friends” you say happy birthday to or congratulate when they post about their latest amazing accomplishment. They will never meet personally or visit the house or call at midnight to wish and share your happiness. friendship isn’t quite the sacred term it used to be. As the role of friendships has changed, so have the words to describe them. For example, the words “friendship,” “friend,” and “BFF” are so often thrown around or used that they’ve lost their meaning.

Lastly, I would say a quote which I read during my teachers training and I agree to it that Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.

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