Desiree Fernandes

Friendship is a beautiful bond that brings together people of all spheres. The human need to feel loved and belonged forges many relations in its process. Some bloom into interpersonal relations while the others stay on mutual or cordial terms. The effort and time invested in nurturing this bond will suggest its nature. We organically evolve into this world and are thus gifted with inherent traits. But our human instincts, behaviours and responses are derived from social institutions. Accordingly we get accustomed to assigning priority to the persons depending on their importance and the value they add to strengthen these relations. 

It has become commonplace to accept friend requests on social networking sites merely by exchanging glances. As a matter of convenience to enhance the number of followers one has and gives weightage and popularity to oneself, we barely understand the implications of fostering this fragile bond. With the advent of popular festivities gaining momentum to celebrate these fragile bonds, it has undoubtedly become an inherent part of our customs to honour these human relations that form the crux of our social gatherings. Children and adults likewise exchange wishes and bands as a tribute to foster and strengthen these ties on occasions like Friendship day and Raksha bandhan including the commemoration of conjugal ties.

With time catching up on us in the advanced stages of our adulthood, this bond can weaken or wither away depending on the amount of efforts exerted by either friend. That's why schools host alumni reunions, families have get-togethers, communities celebrate religious and cultural themes which add much grandeur. 

In this networking jargon we have unconsciously stifled our inner expressions of the self and hooked ourselves to these contemporary modes which has somehow got us lost between our words and our thoughts.

An expression of love in all sincerity transcends time and space. This explains why a personal visit to an ailing or lonely person lends much respite to the forlorn soul. Our human interactions have taken after virtual reality. Even though we are consumed by a mass frenzy of fan followers, a person can still feel lonesome due to the fact that the distinguishing line between private and public content displayed can become vague to the content uploader and the viewer or receiver of the message.

Love can spurn itself in myriad avatars. It is the beginning and end of our existence and sustains living creatures too. But when it hits the iceberg, it will unveil and restore itself through vengeance or forgiveness. Is that the reason why most of the music chartbusters and flicks speak of relationships instead of choosing from a wide range of rampant topics that hog the limelight frequently?

It's noteworthy to mention that ultimately human beings are mysteriously shrouded in ignorance and ego through exaggerated infiltration which can simply be detoned through the act of love itself.