A friend in need is a friend indeed is a proverb that stands true always. In our day to day work, we come across so many persons and all of them are not our friends.
God does not create friends. We acquire them. How are friends made? Friends have some qualities in common. They are generally of the same age group. Their aptitudes and interest, likes and dislikes are generally common. They may live nearby, may go to the same school or may be doing the same work. Good friends know all about one another. There would be no secrets among them. They love one another better than their relative.
There are different kinds of friends. True and faithful friends, casual friends and false or fair-weather friends. A true and faithful friend has certain qualities, which you should also have. It is correctly said that to have a friend you should be one.
true friends are like one soul, living in two bodies. They are attached so much to one another. A real friend is one who comes to you, when all others have left. Never a true one flatters you. He may at times frown upon you. A friend’s frown is said to be better than a foe’s praise. An old friend is like old wine. He is a stimulating force. An old friend is one, on whom one can always rely. He stands by you, at all times and shares you joys and sorrows. It is an unbroken friendship till the last.
In our day to day affairs, we come across so many, who become friends for a purpose. There are also other type of friends, who are casual friends, whom we meet on our travels in buses and the trains. They are friends with whom we exchange so many views. But at the end of the journey, each goes his own way and the casual friendship is also gone.
There are fair-weather friends. They are sycophants. They praise you to skies and linger around you as long as you enjoy property and power. When fortune turns against you, they would be nowhere to be seen.
Friendship spreads on. Even in you have a thousand friends you can still add one more. It is said that house can be known by the friends who frequent it. Know his friends and you know the man. Mahatma Gandhi says adversity is the crucible test for friendship. You know your real friend, only when he stands by you, in times of adversity. It is said prosperity makes friends. Adversity tries them.
Examples of true friends are many in our Puranas and history. Karna, the first son of Kunthi was a true friend of Duryodhana, for whose sake he sacrificed his life. The story of Sudhama and Lord Krishna is another example of real friendship.
Friendship is said to be an art and very few persons are said to be born with a natural gift for it. It is said that friendship multiplies our joys and divides our grief’s. Your life is blessed, if you have a faithful friend. aIone this world of wilderness every one of us requires a true friend. But beware; a friend of all is a friend of none.
