Friendship Day - a celebration of togetherness
Phones started getting jammed with SMSs at midnight, e-mail boxes were full by morning and card shops recorded booming sales all day long. Call it an overwhelming expression of emotion or simply a commercial gimmick, Friendship Day was celebrated Sunday with much gaiety across the capital, like elsewhere.
Initially declared a holiday in honour of friends in America by the US Congress in 1935, the International Friendship Day is celebrated world over on the first Sunday in the month of August.
A day to celebrate love and friendship, Friendship Day has become very popular lately, especially with the younger crowd. And with a variety of cards, gifts, chocolates, wrist bands and other accessories to complement the mood, the craze has simply multiplied.
"Our card sales nearly double just before Friendship Day. Those in their teens and early twenties are our biggest buyers. Such a trend was not so visible - say five years before. But today people want to celebrate every occasion extravagantly," said Sohum Kumar, store manager of an Archies card shop in the capital.
"Friendship Day is all about celebrating your friends and the togetherness that you share. I have three very good friends in college, who were with me in school as well. We have always celebrated ourselves on Friendship Day simply by doing things that we enjoy - eating out, watching a good movie and then talking endlessly over a cup of coffee," said 19-year old Sohini Mitra, a college student.
For Amit Srivasta, Friendship Day is all about taking some time out of his hectic schedule and catching up with his old friends.
"I am so busy through the week that I hardly get any time for myself, let alone anyone else. Friendship Day becomes a good excuse to put everything aside and chill with my old friends who I don't meet as often," said the 24-year old sales executive.
For still others, Friendship Day doesn't mean anything except a commercial gimmick put into maximum use by the greeting card companies. "I really don't understand the logic behind celebrating Mother's Day, Father's Day, Friendship Day et al.
"I don't need one particular day to express my love and care for people who are special to me. In fact I get very irritated when my phone gets jammed with all the Friendship Day messages and emails start pouring. I fail to make my friends understand that it's a sheer commercial gimmick!" said Mandvi Verma, a student.
'Gujarat leg of bullet train may open before Maharashtra first if...': Official
PM Modi to hold virtual summit on bilateral issues with his Sweden counterpart
Delhi HC directs UP police to give post mortem report of farmer
At least three Myanmar cops cross into India seeking refuge
- Those entering India can be granted refugee status, but they will be deported if the government decides against it
Cyber policy to factor in threat from state actors
- The 50-odd pages document, anchored by the national security adviser’s office, is now awaiting the approval from the Prime Minister’s office before it is released.
Covid-19: Phase 2 of vaccination drive stuck in first gear
- Delhi, which gave shots to 1,679 people per million population in the second phase till Wednesday night, was in the second spot, while Odisha (1,283 doses per million) was third
OTT regulations a necessity as some even show porn, says SC
- The scenes that caused offence have since been deleted, and the makers as well as the OTT company have apologised.
‘Can’t mandate perverse equality’: SC on plea over commission for women
- The medical fitness team of the Army tested close to 615 women SSC officers entitled for permanent commission, following the apex court judgment, on five counts: psychiatry, height, appendage (bone structure), physical and eye and ear.
N-E cities have the strongest feel-good factor
- The EOL report has calculated its overall scores on the basis of four parameters: quality of life, economic ability, sustainability and citizen perception.
Economic might led Bengaluru to top
- Bengaluru, India’s technology capital, is an economic powerhouse on account of the presence of some of the world’s largest corporations.
BJP names Metro Man as its Kerala CM face, then retracts
- K Surendran, the state BJP president who made the original announcement claimed he was quoted out of context.
_1614884674395_1614884685385.jpg "The fire in Similipal biosphere reserve came at a time when Odisha topped the list of forest fire incidents with 8688 fire spots since February 25 as per the Forest Survey of India’s fire alerts system. (ANI PHOTO).")
Similipal blaze contained, Odisha asks for rapid response to forest fires
- The biosphere reserve spread over an area of 5569 sq km contributes 38% of the total protected area network in Odisha. It is also one of the oldest tiger reserves in the country having the largest zone of Sal trees.
Top military meet in new avatar, to be ‘multi-layered and informal’
- For the first time, junior commissioned officers (JCOs) and jawans are taking part in the top conference, as reported by Hindustan Times on Wednesday.
Four days into March, Mumbai sizzles at 38 degrees Celsius
- According to the IMD's forecast, Friday and Saturday may see higher daytime temperatures that could rise to 39 degrees Celsius.
