Friends can be defined as an all-time available person. They ae the people who root for you, no matter what. You tell them your deepest, darkest secrets, and instead of heading for the door, they stick around. Having good friends is a blessing that each one of us craves. And, today is the day that specially belongs to the people we refer to as friends.
Friendship Day is celebrated annually on the first Sunday of August. It is a special occasion which celebrates the ties of friendship and precious bonds of togetherness between people. This time around, it is being celebrated today, on August 1. Let’s get to know all about this special day.
History
Friendship Day was first celebrated in Paraguay in 1958 as International Friendship Day. It was started by one Joyce Hall, the inventor of Hallmark cards, in 1930. It was Hall’s idea to mark a day on which people would celebrate their friendships, with August 2 as the original date. The greeting card National Association had supported the day, but it was abandoned after it became a commercial ploy to market greeting cards. Dr Ramon Artemio Bracho introduced the concept of creating a World Friendship Day on July 20, 1958.
Initially, friendship day was celebrated by sharing greeting cards. But in this century of the digital world, it is possible to send a text message, video, and images related to friendship. Day. In 1998, the United Nations marked the honey-loving tubby bear Winnie the Pooh as the Ambassador of Friendship in 1988, and July 30 was designated as International Friendship Day in the 65th UN’s session in 2011.
Significance
This day is significant because it recognises the powerful tie of friendship that exists between two or more individuals regardless of caste, creed, or colour. According to the United Nations, July 30 is celebrated as International Day of Friendship to inspire communities to come together. This day is marked as the journey of being strangers to nurturing an inseparable bond like friendship. Friendship is one of the most blissful relationships a person shares with another person; the association works as a strength developer in an individual’s life.
Date
The day for friendship day varies from country to country. In India, it is celebrated on the first Sunday of the month of August and, luckily, this year the date falls on August 1. With International Friendship Day being celebrated a few days earlier, on July 30, there is no better time to tell your friends how important they are.
How to celebrate
Friendship Day is celebrated by friends exchanging gifts and greeting cards, spending quality time with your best friends, some even make friendship bands and tie it on their friends’ wrists on this day as an act of confirmation and simply put in extra efforts to make their friends feel special.
