When and How did World Friendship Day Start?

When is Friendship born

God never leaves an option for any human being to choose his/her parents. It is completely a prerogative of God. He decides for each and everyone. Along with it comes lots of relationship and also number of responsibilities as a permanent baggage. Like or dislike it, nothing matters. Only one thing matters the most that is no human can act against God’s wish. After birth when an infant gradually starts growing up then he/she comes in contact of many people. Definitely of different ages but due to the child instinct he/she automatically gets attracted to one or may be a bunch of nearly his/her age among the other lot. If conditions remain suitable and the meeting of the little ones does not get disrupted then unintentionally a seed gets sowed. This is a seed of ‘friendship’.

Origin

First Sunday of August is World Friendship Day. It is a special day for friends to celebrate and have fun at its maximum. Even it is time to pull up socks and make up for the fun they missed together due to different responsibilities. Some even try to patch up and rebuild old friendship. Whatever the reason is cited from the heart of the friends to celebrate the day is not so important but the utmost important cause for celebration is easily understood from the title itself: ‘World Friendship Day’, this title depicts it all. So, basic thought behind the World Friendship Day is that friends are calling. When friends are calling then how could the heart of another friend refuse to beat on the same tune? Rather, it will be appropriate to say it starts beating faster than generally it does.

Freedom to make friend

Wonderful it is! A child neither has hand in his or her birth nor in selecting parents but as the process of life begins and the child starts making some small hesitant move independently then God never intervenes. The child gets the option open that is ‘freedom of choice’. It is at their free will they select someone to play with. Sometimes we can find some children who are very hesitant. May be at heart they are very keen to play but shy to mingle and then parents or any older person try to help the child to come out of his/her self created shell. Still, one thing is very clear that a child can only be encouraged to mix up with a particular lot but cannot be forced to do so. It is completely a wish of a child to mingle or not to mingle and similarly to play or not to play.

Once the children decide to mingle and start enjoying the company then nothing else matters other than playing. They get attracted or better to say drawn towards each other only due to the fun and frolic they enjoy in playing together. Being in such a tender age they don’t even know what this relationship is called but a bond is created. They start missing one another and when they are together it is fun to watch them. Again it is parents or anyone older teaches them that they are friends. Thus, friends are made on earth and friendship takes birth without anyone’s intervention.

A Lifetime Gift

A child who has just started to speak, still stammering not even learned a particular language properly, can’t even hold a thing tightly or walk uprightly, may be wets the bed regularly, gets afraid at the drop of a hat but so what he/she has produced something worth possessing in this world. Sowed the seed of friendship and reaps in friendship which grows stronger by each passing day.

Origin of World Friendship Day

It was 1919, when the Friendship Day was observed for the first time to honor the friends and friendship. Actually, the concept of honoring friends and friendship was conceived for the first time in 1919 by Mr. Joyce C. Hall, the founder of Hallmark Cards.

Original Date

Originally, from 1919 onward the first Sunday of August used to be celebrated as Friendship Day. Friends and friendship gets honored and Friendship Day is observed. Due to a strong criticism of the World Friendship Day by the US citizen as they considered it to be a business policy took a back seat for a while. After some years it started to regain its lost recognition because people of different countries appreciated the notion of celebrating World Friendship Day. In 1935 US Congress passed a proclamation to honor friends and friendship on the first Sunday of August. Thus, celebration of World Friendship Day took place on the first Sunday of August as it used to be in its beginning years, 1919 and onward. Though a proclamation was signed by the US Congress but the whole World also favored the idea of celebrating the World Friendship Day. India too has opted for the World Friendship Day on the first Sunday of August.

UN International Friendship Day

Recently, a development took place. On 27^th April 2011, the General Assembly of the U.N. in its 65^th session passed a resolution and declared 30^th July as the International Friendship Day. It is to celebrate global friendship

Opposed

The founder of Friendship Day Mr. Joyce C. Hall was the owner of Hallmark Cards. It was quite natural that the celebration of Friendship Day to honor friends and friendship invoked criticism as the founder Mr. Joyce C. Hall was a greeting card company owner. To celebrate one buys cards, flowers, gift items or friendship bands to gift a friend. This was the reason why people during that period in US opposed the celebration of Friendship Day. They considered it to be a publicity of cards and to increase the business. Quite obviously, the celebration of Friendship Day to honor friends and friendship witnessed a setback but not for a very long time. It was because the idea of Friendship Day got appreciation from people of other countries. Ultimately, it is not in US alone but through out the world Friendship Day gets celebrated. The date may vary between the countries but the thought behind the celebration remains the same. It is to honor friends and friendship, a self chosen relationship which represents a bond of heart.

Just like any other relationship, friendship too has its own share of good and bad. Merits and demerits, sweet and sour, or special and not so special type and other emotions. If one has experienced the sweetest friendship then he/she may have also experienced a most bitter one. As a friend enjoying friendship is as common as hurting oneself through this self chosen relationship. Some friendships enjoy a lifetime relationship but some prove to be fragile. Marching together for sometime and then going apart is not an unusual happening but that happens due to various reasons. They are as follows:

1. Change of residence (local or cross border)

2. Change in educational institute

3. Due to different commitments

4. Misunderstanding

5. Bitter sweet feeling

6. Status, position and bank balance

7. Ego

8. A very trivial matter

Whenever a friendship is made it is with a hope to have a relation of a lifetime. Thus, due to any above mentioned reason or some other, if the relationship breaks then it leaves back a hurt soul. At the time of making friendship no one knows how long the friendship will continue. Those people are considered to be lucky in friendship if no problem develops in their relationship but it simply turns around if the friendship lacks solidarity.

Care and Growth

Every relationship needs to be nurtured and taken care of to grow and bloom just like the plants are nurtured. Friendship is a relationship of heart therefore it cannot be ignored or be taken for granted. Friendship has no limit at all. Though friends have no fixed code of conduct, this relationship too follows a few unsaid code of conduct. Honesty and trust are the two vital features which are must without saying. If friendship lacks even one of the two features referred above then it is bound to crumble down.

Friendship is an Immortal Relationship

Friendships do break but giving importance to the breaking phase and forgetting the period that was spent happily together is not a positive thought. It is always better to keep in mind the love shared among each other and accept the break in relationship as destiny. One must take it as it comes. Sour thoughts always dampen the spirit of togetherness. Thus, it is better to recollect the sweet memories and leave behind the bad experiences. This is the way to make friendship immortal. It will be a loving tribute to the friends of past and present on the World’s Friendship Day.

A person needs friends and in life friendship is very important. As long as a friend is there for a company life is always sweet and happy. Sometimes a friendship gets over then it is better to think that nothing is permanent in this world. A relationship ends but the fond memories must not come to an end therefore to forget the sweet time spent together is not worth. In this way the truth in a relationship gets cherished, true friends, may be for sometime, is never forgotten and that’s how friendship gets immortal. I hope such thought makes the celebration real meaningful on World’s Friendship Day.

World Friendship Day 2015

As it's known that first Sunday of August is celebrated as World Friendship Day. So, in 2015 it has to be 2^nd August because it's the first Sunday of the month. Come on, Friends! Enjoy the day with your true friend or friends. Do not spoil it by spending time with so called friends. Be true and celebrate it truly!