Binding the friendship bond

It's a special day to remember old friends and catch up with new ones. People dedicate Friendship Day, celebrated on the first Sunday of August, to friends. This day was first promoted by Joyce Hall, the founder of Hallmark cards, in 1919. With the increasing popularity of social networking sites among the youth it is also celebrated online now.

Traditionally, people used to tie friendship bands to each other. But this custom seems to be on the wane now with only schoolchildren following it religiously. DNA speaks to a few Amdavadis about what has happened to this custom.   

Vanita Agarwal, owner of Fashion Studio says, "Friendship Day is a very special day for the young generation. The trend of spending moments at a coffee shop have been replaced with
lavish parties thrown by friends, buying gifts and dressing up in themes. The charm of tying friendship bands is lost except in schools."

"Back then when we were in school many of us took the trouble to make colourful friendship bands each year. The special ones were kept for good friends. Some were specially handcrafted with threads. What was exciting was the number of bands one received - that determined how popular one was! Now you can send a friendship band to someone online as well. The custom seems a little silly to me now," says Sahiba Singh, a professional. Going out with friends for a film or dinner is becoming more popular, she adds.  

The commercialisation of Friendship Day celebrations is well-known. For Gurudatt Nayak, a cards and gift shop owner, this day brings good business. "I see several kids buying bands even after the day has passed. Since children have limited budgets they usually pick up cheap bands whereas many adults come in and purchase expensive bands for their friends," he says.

However, another shop owner says: "I see more children these days buying gifts and cards rather than bands. But there are some who stick to the old ritual and also post the bands to their friends in other cities."  

Vinti Poddar, a young girl from the city, feels that bands are passé and it is too childish to tie them. "Gone are the days when you could talk to your best friend about anything and everything, be it your latest crush or what you are wearing for a party. Now, let alone Friendship Day and bands, we don't even meet our friends for days together while living in the same city," she says.

Miya-Mahadev: A bond beyond religion
On the canvas of the walled city where religious identities are sharply divided and the differences are unnerving, here is a story of a unique friendship. Hindu-Muslim companionship is not a new tale to be told but there are certain stories that symbolise friendship and what better day than this to share the story of Bharat and Hasan, two friends in the old city of Ahmedabad.

Their tale was first explored by college students -Aayush Patel, Mit Jani and Prateek Gupta - who were travelling in the old city in search of a story. And it was later made into a short film called Miya-Mahadev.

This friendship is based in Pankor Naka near Teen Darwaja. Bharat and Hasan, who are friends since 1985, run a business in a cramped area of the old city as a tailor and owner of a tools shop. Known to the people around them as Miya-Mahadev, their friendship has been a witness to all the ups and downs that the city has gone through.

The film based on them was also shown at various venues in the city where the two friends talked about friendship and spread a message of peace. They are still thick pals and 25 years of bonding just gets stronger by the day.

These two men have started an initiative called Miya Mahadev Pooch Parach Kendra, an information centre at the heart of the old city. It's their friendship, their small acts of kindness, their humility and respect towards each other that has spread infectiously to the people around them and created an oasis
of harmony.

Secular troika of city
Among the many stories about Ahmedabad, there is one about three men who are often considered a symbol of secularity. The friendship of this Parsi, Hindu and Muslim was legendary.
There is a local Gujarati saying,  'Hoon, Bawo ne Mangaldas'. It stands for the friendship between the trio - Isaji Soma, a Muslim, Homi Mehta (Bawo) a Parsi and Sheth Mangaldas Girdhardas, a Hindu. All three were partners in a number of businesses started in a short period of time.

Sheth Mangaldas was among Ahmedabad's foremost businessmen and philanthropists of the 20th century. He started his career as a store-keeper in a textile mill and, in a very short span of time, he built an empire comprising of mills and other related businesses.

Such was their friendship that whenever a new business started in the city, people believed that it was this troika that was behind it. It became part of folklore. A hundred years later it serves as a reminder about the secularity of this city.

‘He cooked, while I did the dishes’
In the batch of 1974-77 at National School of Drama in New Delhi there studied two friends. Both grew up to become fine theatre artists, but what grew with them was a bond.

Rajoo Barot, city-based theatre personality and well-known actor Raghuveer Yadav were both classmates and roommates during their academic days. And today, on Friendship Day, we revisit the sweet memories they shared. Barot gets nostalgic speaking
to DNA...

"I learnt how to sing from Raghuveer. In fact, he was the one who taught me how to play the harmonium. And I give him all the credit for developing a sense of music in me. After passing out from NSD we even shared a flat together. I was really bad at cooking so he took over but we had a deal that I would do the dishes. Later I did manage to cook decent dal," Barot says with a laugh.  

Dal got him to remember an incident. He narrated: "I had cooked dal for both of us one day. We were really hungry and it was quite late at night after we returned from our rehearsals. But due to carelessness the vessel fell down. Eventually, we both ate roti, mirch and namak and slept." 

"He is a good actor and a very good friend. Ab hum kabhi kabhi milte hain par ek doosre ko yaad zaroor karte hain," he said.