The so called friendship week or friendship day has become an annual event and young people in particular use this occasion to make new friends, renew old ties and to have a good time. The General Assembly of the United Nation declared July 30 as official International Friendship Day. Traditionally though, the Day takes place on the first Sunday of August. Therefore friendship day is not a new thing although except for the fun part involving young people, the real significance of having such a day has not been properly understood at least here in Nagaland. So for some few years now, youth organizations in our State have been observing such a day through the usual activities of music, sports, games and entertainment programmes. While there is nothing wrong in such kind of celebration among young people, the question is whether we also understand the real meaning behind the word friendship and more importantly the things that go to make friendship work. The narrow view of friendship usually centers on romance and the boy-girl thing. Hopefully we will learn to appreciate the broader context in which friendship day should be celebrated.
The fact that initially friendship day was created by the greeting cards industry could well explain the failure to look beyond the somewhat superficial pomp and gaiety involved in such celebrations. According to information gathered from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, it is said that Friendship Day was originally promoted by Joyce Hall, the founder of Hallmark cards in 1919, and intended on first Sunday of August to be a day where people celebrated their friendships by sending cards. As such, Friendship Day was promoted by the greetings card National Association during the 1920s but met with consumer resistance - given that it was rather 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. It is clear that though having originated in the west; the day has been kept alive and revitalized in countries like India. This could well explain the business and marketing side of friendship day in emerging economies.
Coming to the significance that should be attached to such a day especially among the Naga people, torn as we are with so much division, mistrust and misunderstanding, we should not just celebrate but also educate ourselves about those values that go to make friendship. Among others we must learn how to co-exist and live in harmony through respect for diversity, appreciating the differences of opinion, promoting mutual understanding, dialogue and having the courage of conviction to forgive, reconcile and live in peace, amity. If we can learn these values in our everyday lives then having friendship day will become more meaningful for our current context. Naga society in particular is in want of promoting friendship and fellowship among the tribal hohos, churches, civil society, political groups etc. We need to reach out to each other and start building bridges among tribes, communities and people. This friendship day let us not only make new friends, renew old ties but also put efforts to forgive, reconcile and repair broken relationships. Friendship day should not be confined to young people only nor should it be merely about sending greeting cards, gifts, SMS, e-mails etc. The better way to celebrate the day will be to educate ourselves about the true meaning of friendship and the values attached to make relationships work.
The fact that initially friendship day was created by the greeting cards industry could well explain the failure to look beyond the somewhat superficial pomp and gaiety involved in such celebrations. According to information gathered from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, it is said that Friendship Day was originally promoted by Joyce Hall, the founder of Hallmark cards in 1919, and intended on first Sunday of August to be a day where people celebrated their friendships by sending cards. As such, Friendship Day was promoted by the greetings card National Association during the 1920s but met with consumer resistance - given that it was rather 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. It is clear that though having originated in the west; the day has been kept alive and revitalized in countries like India. This could well explain the business and marketing side of friendship day in emerging economies.
Coming to the significance that should be attached to such a day especially among the Naga people, torn as we are with so much division, mistrust and misunderstanding, we should not just celebrate but also educate ourselves about those values that go to make friendship. Among others we must learn how to co-exist and live in harmony through respect for diversity, appreciating the differences of opinion, promoting mutual understanding, dialogue and having the courage of conviction to forgive, reconcile and live in peace, amity. If we can learn these values in our everyday lives then having friendship day will become more meaningful for our current context. Naga society in particular is in want of promoting friendship and fellowship among the tribal hohos, churches, civil society, political groups etc. We need to reach out to each other and start building bridges among tribes, communities and people. This friendship day let us not only make new friends, renew old ties but also put efforts to forgive, reconcile and repair broken relationships. Friendship day should not be confined to young people only nor should it be merely about sending greeting cards, gifts, SMS, e-mails etc. The better way to celebrate the day will be to educate ourselves about the true meaning of friendship and the values attached to make relationships work.
