Happy Friendship Day

For the International Day of Friendship, Peace Vigil invited our members to contribute an essay on the topic of what friendship means to them. These are some of the submissions we received.

My best friend, Amita
By Zoya

My best friend Amita lives in India. I live in the United States. You may wonder how that is possible! Well, you see, Amita and I used to be neighbors until recently. She was born in India but came to the US when she was about one year old. Her dad had been working here and when Amita was born, she and her mom also moved to the US. I was two when I met Amita and her family. My parents took me to meet the baby and we even have a picture from that time. Me holding baby Amita in my lap while my mom and her mom sit on either side. I don’t remember that moment but I am glad that I have that picture to remind me how far back our friendship goes. I am 17 now and Amita is going to be 16 soon.

To be very honest, my family had no Indian friends before we met Amita and her family. Both my dad and mom had Indian colleagues but we did not know any Indians closely. We liked Indian food (limited to our knowledge of Indian food from the restaurants we had been to) and my parents had watched a few Bollywood movies. We also had some books about India, including one on Indian classical music instruments, another on Hinduism and one about the life of Gandhi. There were also a few beautiful scarves my mom had bought from the weekend market where an Indian vendor had a stall. In short, we did not have much interaction with India or knowledge about it.

On the other hand, Amita’s parents knew a lot about the US. They spoke flawless English even if we had difficulty understanding them sometimes. I am sure they too found our English hard to understand sometimes. They had a good grasp of the geography of the US and were quite aware of the political scene. They also had their favorite Hollywood stars. Additionally, they loved American music and often discussed old and new albums. Amita’s mom played the piano beautifully and the dad had an amazing voice. He also played the guitar.

It was actually the love of music that brought our families together. At first, my parents were just curious about the new neighbors and fascinated by the fact that they were Indian. All our other neighbors had been white until then. But slowly, that curiosity and fascination turned into the realization that our families shared a deep interest in music. Jazz was a common favorite genre and our dads both loved Wes Montgomery. Amita’s dad talked about jazz performers we had never heard of who he had heard in Mumbai years ago. Music is a language that we all speak I guess.

Another universal language is food. On Indian holidays (who knew there were so many of them?) Amita’s family would bring over tasty treats. In return my parents would make sure to give them food from our Ukrainian heritage whenever we were celebrating. Amita loves syrniki almost as much as I love puran poli. We have also tried making fusion dishes together. Most experiments have been delish! Discussing our dreams and future, we often wondered if opening an Indian-eastern European restaurant was a good idea.

Amita and I have had so much fun together. Going to the same school meant we spent a lot of time with each other. My favorite memories are from our bus rides to and from school. I don’t think we ever had any difficulty coming up with things to discuss. We also went to singing classes together and while Amita went on to like piano more than singing, we would often get together for musical evenings. Our parents would join too and we had a ball!

We miss Amita’s family and I miss spending time with my best friend. They moved back to India due to her dad’s job. But we often talk to them. They have invited us to India and we are thinking about visiting them next year.

When I was asked to write about friendship on International Day of Friendship, the first image that came to my mind was that of Amita. She looks very different from me and her family is from a different part of the world than mine and yet we are best friends. For me, friendship means sharing common interests, having fun and talking a lot about everything. I am sure that no matter where we will be in our lives, we’ll always remain best friends. It is true that Amita is no longer my neighbor and I am sure we’ll both make new friends as time goes by but our friendship will always be special.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF FRIENDSHIP
by Md. Sayeed Khan

We human beings are different from other animals. We need bread, clothes and shelter as our basic needs and other than this we need love n care of other people. Fraternity and friendship are essence of humanity.

But we see that our world is facing many challenges, crises and grounds of division - such as poverty, violence, violation of human rights, social injustice, gender inequality and tyranny. All these bring imbalance in society which threats peace and security in world society.

We are divided on many ground like culture, food, language and colour etc. But it should be for our identity not judge our class in terms of superior or inferior and have pride over it.

Our planet earth provides us all resources which are necessary for survival of all human being but statistical data says that less than 2% of population of the world have control over more than 65% of resources of earth. it has created economic inequality, brought suffering to majority of population and created classes of capitalists n workers. This economic creed divides people in many ways and makes society unstable from political and social point of view.

In underdeveloped countries graph of education is very low which is direct affect of economic freedom and root cause of many problems. We know that poverty leads illiteracy. Diseases, malnutrition and poor healthcare are wide spread in poor countries.

In this modern era world is waging war in many pretext but finally destroying the world and killing human being. Hatred, bigotry and violence are common in name of race, colour, region and religion. In short we can say that humanity is in crises in many ways and it is looking for a solution which has root in promoting and defending a shared spirit of human solidarity that takes many forms and FRIENDSHIP is one of them.

Friendship demands social justice, strong ties of trust, love for universal humanity and a passion for Peace and Social Harmony. Friendship promotes dignity among human being irrespective of one's place in society and contribute in outlook of people about humanity of world to achieve lasting stability in the world.

Heads of the states of all countries should come forward as U.N. suggested to promote sense of friendship by considering Peace as their goal and priority to serve mankind.

Here the role of religious leaders is so vital. They have emotional control over people, if they make it their priority and purpose to unite people for sake of peace, security and prosperity of mankind then we can achieve stability on earth.

Prophet Mohammad said that one should love other as he/she loves himself/herself.

We need to celebrate this great day wholeheartedly by our deeds not only by words.

A Friend is a Person Like Home
by Jiya

A friend is a person like home. Like your own or someone else’s but the feeling they give is that of a home, safe and comforting. But how can that be when a friend is also different? Like a voyage to an undiscovered land or a trip to the very heart of the ocean. Exhilarating, interesting, unfamiliar. Or, a friend is like a good, deep breath of air. Sustaining, revitalising, a saviour. But they can also be- I think that is enough. They don’t have to be anything. A friend cannot be defined as a specific type of person. They are someone you would miss if they left your life, someone who you care about. They care about you too. There is no such thing as a perfect friendship, or. a perfect friend. But when you are with a friend, the good outweighs the bad in this world. You just… feel better. People provide you with the idea of a “best friend” at an early age. And when you’re little, everyone looks like a friend, so it’s not that hard to pick a favourite. But now, I trust almost nobody, and nobody trusts me. After all, friendship is deeper than what we thought it was. You don’t just have to laugh together. You have to cry together too. At the end, a friend is someone who doesn’t bring you down in order to lift themselves up. They take you for who you are, and you do the same for them. Just seeing their face and hearing their voice can bring a smile to your face.

What Friendship Means to Me
by Inaya Mir

Friendships are often sugar-coated to make people, especially young ones, believe that these are relationships that are supposed to be easy and free of stress. However, this is not the case. Friendships are full of challenges, painful and ugly ones sometimes. Friends will come and go, but that is part of what makes strong bonds even more special. You can know that not everything is perfect. You can acknowledge the ways you may have hurt each other. You can understand that you are fundamentally different people. But through all of that, you love each other and have their back, no matter what life decides to throw at any of you.

The most difficult thing about transitioning from childhood to adulthood is finding, navigating, and maintaining relationships. One thing nobody warned me about was that I would watch some of the people who were my entire world through my teenage years, slip away until we were practically strangers. And, for the most part, nobody is to blame as our lives are changing quickly. The friends I was closest to in high school have moved all around the world, and we each have formed entirely different lives and grown into different people. But that does not make it any easier because after years of friendship, it is easy to assume that no matter the distance or time, we can withstand any obstacles placed in our way. And while it is excruciating, leading to tears and asking “why couldn’t they keep me in their lives?” or, “what did I do wrong?” the more time that passes, the more you begin to realize it does not have to be an end, rather a beginning of a new adventure with new people.

Over the last two years, I drifted apart from two of my closest friends from high school, and I eventually lost contact with one, all together. However, my adventures of the last year have introduced me to some of the greatest, most genuine friends I have ever had, including my best friend. The bond we created from living together is something I have not experienced with anybody else. On the outside, the two of us could not be more different. Between our families, heritage, religious values, and general lifestyles, we are practically opposites. Even though our personalities set us apart; she carries herself with a level of confidence and boldness that I have always aspired to have. I come from a religious, Muslim family, and she grew up non-religious. I am of South Asian heritage, and she is American and Russian.

So how did two significantly different girls become so close? Perhaps it was the many strange experiences we shared that started our bond. Whether it was traveling in foreign countries or experiencing messy situations in our friend group, the more I learned about her, the deeper my respect for her became. I do not think I have ever met someone as strong, determined, and caring as her. She assumes responsibility for the people around her, no matter who they are. I often struggle to remain the bigger person but her belief in second chances and willingness to allow people room to grow is incredibly inspiring.

My primary love language is acts of service, so one of my biggest pet peeves in friendships is a lack of effort by the other person. As long as I have known her, she has gone above and beyond to make me feel appreciated, even though she now lives thousands of miles away. Just last month, she rearranged her flights so she could have a layover in my city, which meant I got to see her when neither of us was expecting. Not a day goes by where she does not text me, and every week she calls me. And unlike any other friend, she regularly checks in to ask how I am doing, like how I truly am, not just in a superficial way.

Sometimes when we talk I almost laugh about how different our lives are. Of course, we have many similarities; our love of art and traveling, for example. We share a similar ridiculous sense of humor and somehow end up in the most obscure conflicts with other friends. It is essential to understand that it is not similarities or shared identities that make a good friendship; rather it is the quality of character in a person and the way they treat you as a human being. I do not think either of us can imagine living the life of the other, which is perfectly fine. I do not need her to be a brown and Muslim for me to call her when I am hurting and upset, knowing she will stop what she is doing to help me. I just know that what matters is the way we support each other, and I know the kind of person she is, and THAT is what makes a friendship worth having and fighting for.