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Won't the hand-me-downs from the West never
cease, I said rather thinking aloud.
What do you want to cease, asked my husband
who didn't catch what I said.
I meant the 'Friendship Day'. This time the
day happened to be a Sunday which is a holiday for all colleges,
I said.
Let the children enjoy, said my husband
sounding very magnanimous.
Enjoying at whose expense? Both the children
wanted a thousand rupees each to spend the day with their
friends, I said.
Oh my, did you give them the money, he asked
surprised.
Well, after a great deal of argument, they
agreed to accept half the amount, I said. Anyway, I wasn't happy
at all about celebrating something that is alien to our culture,
I said.
Well, we can't help it, we have to move with
the times. Coming to think of it, my father would give Rs 10 on
my birthday while I was studying in college which appeared a
fortune to me those days, said my husband reminiscing about his
childhood days.
It was the same with me too, I said recalling
how naive we children were in the days gone by.
By the way, are any of your childhood friends
in touch with you, he asked suddenly.
Yes a few, I said. They have greeted me
through mail.
Friendship grows over the years. Nothing like
childhood friends, don't you think so, he observed.
Yes and no, I said. It all depends on
individuals because sometimes you come across someone and
immediately take a liking for her and a close friendship is
formed within no time as it happened in my case, I said.
Probably, it all has to do with chemistry, he
remarked.
Also common interests matter. More than
anything, true friends don't need to convince each other or
announce to the world about their friendship, that too just on a
single day of the year or blow up their parents' hard earned
money as is happening with our children year after year, I said.
Thank yourself that there is no separate
Friendship Day for 'Boys' and one for 'Girls', quipped my
husband.
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