Monday, March 28, 2011

A mail drafted on Friendship day

It was friendship day..
As usual I was very excited....I wished I was in college when we used to tie friendship bands and party with this excuse :)
It was 9am already and I was already half disappointed that he dint cal yet to wish me "Happy friendship day"
I was waiting for him to cal n wish first....coz he knew how much importance I give to these lil things.....I had always been waiting for such spl days...
I sneaked into his email account to see if he already checked his mails ( proves if he already got up or not :P)....that is when I found this in his latest drafts

"
As always, you are entitled to your opinion and this does not mean that I am trying to change your way of looking at the world in anyway. Its just that I was there where you are now and I feel I have evolved from that point on in such matters. I merely want to express what I went through before saying those terrible words “Happy Friendship day” today or for that matter “Happy mother’s day” or “Happy father’s day”, which I never did in my life.

Today I received some typical “happy friendship day” messages on facebook, gmail and orkut and all of them are from the same people who are not really my friends by any stretch of imagination. Them saying those words did not brighten my day in anyway the same way my actual friends not saying those words to me today did not lessen their relation with me.

Back in engineering, my group of friends never said those words to each other and if I say that to anybody, without a doubt anyone in my group would burst into immediate laughter. However, there were certain other groups in our college who tied friendship bands on the day, which made them the laughing stock for us. So, are they really kids and corny and cheesy in behavior compared to us and are we more evolved than them, is subjected to one’s own opinion. You may not find them cheesy and corny but what is not subjected to opinion and is a fact is that if at all there comes a dire need where you need to help your friend who is in your dire need, they would not take one step forward.

For some people, its just being hip and modern. The new generation who were brought up by the world of television and stupid corny romantic movies, easily buys into such things and if you apply your logic, which has been abandoned long ago, you will see where I am coming from. The need to express your feeling of friendship on friendship’s day OR the need to express your love by buying a gift on the Valentine’s day actually displays ones insecurity in the relation more than anything. To me that is disgusting. The funny part about it is most of us don’t even care to know where these dates came from and most likely they were invented by some random jerk in the last 20 or 30 years ago for some stupid reason that we could even care for and the gift card companies and corporates took the advantage and commercialize it in a way that you feel you are not modern until you follow the trend.

To me this not just a hip trend but a dangerous one. Humans have existed for millions of years and we have known records of human relations for at least thousands of years. This trend of celebrating friendship, love, brotherly and sisterly love (oh god save us from this stupidity) probably started in last few decades. So, what about our forefathers who did not know about such days. As the reach of media and corporate businesses has been expanding, the likelihood of this trend becoming a norm in the society is also increasing. In the next few decades, we will have whole generation which will be brought up in this trend. We will then reach a stage where people will actually be offended for not being greeted. Hopefully, I will die before this.

So, when someone tells me “happy friendship day”, I either see his/her insecurity or see the blatant ignorant and innocent consumer culture in him/her. And when I flinch just hearing those words, imagine me saying me those words.

I see this trend more popular in India than else where. Being one of the most dimwitted nations around the world, we blindly follow whatever West feeds us. One glance at youtube proves this. Just type in freindships day in the search box and you will see 9 out 10 videos being from our great nation."

I sat silent for a loong time after reading it....every word of it was true....I never really thought soo much about it anyday....all I wanted was an excuse for celebration.....I felt soo foolish after reading it.....it wasnt some discovery I dint know of, but somehow it shook me a bit......I felt soo bad that he had been thinking soo much that he even started to write abt it......but somehow I liked his way of thinking and made me happier to know this aspect of him.....i never knew that he was doing all such stuff only to make me happy all the while....felt really bad and guilty.....i was somehow moved a lot by reading it
My phone started ringing....It was him.....I picked up..
He greeted..." Happy friendship day ra bangaram"

PS: He never mentioned about the draft till date.



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3 comments:

Sahithi Paleti said...

Nice Thots....

My own thots on it:

When people have the time, enegry and money to be close to people they love and express it when needed, these days hold no significance to them since everyday is a special day for them...

Times have changed and everything is in a hurry these days....Simple pleasures of life are long forgotten and there is a need for reminders - to feel and express ourselves....These days are just that...It makes you pause from your routine fast life and remember the other things in life....

I have always seen these occassions as an opportunity to celebrate and have genuine fun with friends and family....They are just another reason to make yourself happy :)

Presence of these days may not be needed to Live an Amazing Life...But Absence of these days will be hated by many....For its not just a day but a Reason, an Opportunity, a Pause for many :D

Rohini Kummitha said...

I beg to differ poppy..
I second Sahithi..I see nothing wrong in expressing love/ feelings, what ever occasion or day it is..

Yes,I agree ppl are concerned about the corporate hoopla..but what surprizes me is why din anyone rise concerns about festivals like Rakhi or Diwali..Gift giving was always part of our culture too..Considering the population in India, festivals like these are a big business too..
East or West, We should always respect the "Sentiment" on which these days are based..
No one is imposing anything on anyone..On a big scale we always think of corporates, but I know lot of NGOs involved in making bands, cards and gifts..in a way we are supporting employment too, corporates or NGOs :)

Lastly, We cannot judge anyone or laugh at anyone...just because they are celebrating or not celebrating something :)

Cake cutting for any occasion was never our culture, din we conveniently welcome that and make it an integral part of our celebrations too? Do we criticize any one for cutting a cake and celebrating it with friends or family??
At the end of the day...its not cake/ flowers/ balloons, our culture or their culture, its just the celebration,the people, the memories that matter :)

Strictly my opinion :)

P.S: Sudheer also feels more or less the same way like Kishan does. He too doesn't believe in gift giving... Hehe..
Am happy that these guys respect our feelings though they differ :):D

Harika Korukonda said...

@sa,Ron.....Ofcourse I agree with both of u :), enthaina manam manam friends with same wavelength kada ;))...but wt kishan seems to be pointing out is that celebrating it just for the sake of celebrating without having real feelings driving it is wrong...if you see it just as a pause in life to show out your loved ones what they mean to you in any form I think it is nothing to object...but wt he feels is that if you are forcing yourself to do smething spl only on sme particular day just coz it is tagged as spl day doesnt seem right...any day when u r in a good mood and when u feel like making it spl, can be your own spl day....thats wt he says...but ofcourse with this busy lives I agree with both views :)