These Extraordinary Friendship Stories Tell Us What Real Friends Are All About

These Extraordinary Friendship Stories Tell Us What Real Friends Are All About

Away from the conventional framework of relationships is friendship, a bond that every living being on this planet has experienced. Everyone human being makes a friend at some point of time in life; howsoever fleeting it seems sometimes. Friendship can be as simple as two neighbours saying ‘hi’ when they see each other every morning, or three colleagues having lunch together. It cuts across the barriers of class, caste, creed, age and gender. To celebrate this amazing relationship, various countries celebrate Friendship Day! Although its origins are under debate, Friendship Day in India is generally celebrated on the first Sunday of August.

This Friendship Day, My City Links looks at some unique friendships which stand apart from the traditional structure of such relationships. There are some that have people from entirely different genres of life whose bonds have gone on to withstand the test of time and place. Heart-warming and uplifting, these stories will move you to the core!

Avinash Patnaik and Shashank Gour | Distance No Barrier

From classmates to best friends forever. The bond between Shasank and Avinash is such that even distance of continents has not been able to come in the way of their friendship. They met each other while pursuing their Post-Graduation in Tamil Nadu Agricultural University but eight years later, they are the closest of friends even though Shashank lives in the USA and Avinash in Bhubaneswar.

After their PG, Shashank settled in Washington,USA. But the two had become such great friends during college days that their affection for each other only kept growing with passing time. For Avinash, Shashank is much more than just a friend. He is also a guide, counsellor and a brother to him.

“Our friendship developed during our PG days. Though we never observed Friendship Days tying a band or promising each other to be friends forever, I know that Shashank is that one person in my life, I can trust blindly. Now we hardly get time to talk daily but we are always there for each other. He is the one with whom I can share anything. There were times when I was going through a lot of emotional stress but Shashank helped me get over that phase and motivated me to focus on my professional life and achieve my goals” says Avinash.

Although it’s been eight years that the two friends are living away from each other, the distance has hardly made any difference to their relationship.

“After he left for USA, we have met only twice. But the bond that we share made me feel that we aretogether all the time. There is a family picture in our house, which has me and my parentsand besides me, stands Shashank. Whenever I look at that picture, I feel I am looking at my brother! We may not be brothers by bloodbut emotionally, we connect even better than siblings,” adds Avinash.

Avinash, who now works in the Agriculture Department, loves to travel a lot and gives due credit to his friend to inspire him to travel and explore and new places. “I remember he used to always say that we should do what we love to so that there is no regret later on in life. That is how he kept encouraging me to travel,” recalls Avinash.

“In life, there are friends who come and go but Shashank is someone who will be there for me forever,” concludes Avinash.

Kshitish Das and Papu Maharathy | When Dreams Become One

Popularly addressed as Ranga-Balia by fellow students of Utkal University of Culture, the friendship of Kshitish-Papuhas stood the test of time. A journey which started during their college days saw them dream together to do something in the field of art and culture.

And, though there was a time when due to lack of money, the two had walked all the way from the Governor House to the Tourism and Culture Department at Kalpana Square in 2009 for work, today both own a car and are living their dream in the form of the

Raghurajpur International Art and Craft Residency and Annual Harirajpur Mahotsav in Harirajpur. Both the initiatives started by the two are considered major events in the cultural calendar of Odisha today.

Talking about their journey together, Kshitish says, “We used to be very mischievous during college days and had fun troubling each other, which often led to silly fights. But then, the friendship between me and Papuis very special. We have struggled together so we know each other’s pain. It’s been 18 years and our friendship isstill going strong and I know it will last till death do us apart.”

On a ‘filmy’ note, the two have also celebrated betrayal of girl-friends by cutting cakes! “Being emotional over the years, I often ended up with a broken heart, and most of the time,Papu would console me bringing a cake and would cheer me up by asking me to enjoy my freedom,” recalls Kshitish with a smile.

“We fight and argue yet we care for each other. Our bond is such that now our families are also close to each other. We have given each other the right to interfere in family matters too if need arises and the best part is our parents totally respect that,” he further shares.

For Kshitish, friendship is the most precious thing in life today. “Friendship doesn’t mean observing a Friendship Day and not caring about each other otherwise. Rather it’s a journey which is fuelled by the power of love, emotions, faith, loyalty and concern,” he sums up.

Priyanka and her Group of 10 friends They become became friends when they were in standard VI, but even after 25 years their friendship is still going strong. Priyanka Priyadarshini, a government official based in Bhubaneswar still gets emotional thinking about her friends of standard VI. Recalling about their school days, our is a group of five men and five female friends. We became friends when we even didn’t knew the concept of true friendship. We just used to enjoy company of each other and often did things together. Gradually each of us settled here and there and got busy with our family life, but we remained as it is.

“During our student life we often used to bunk our classes to spend some quality time  together. I was the first person in the group who moved out of Berhampur which made everyone sad. Now all of us in good position and working as doctor, engineer and some even moved abroad. But make sure to gather during celebration or events in anyone house,” said Priyanka.

“These ten friends are gems in my live and I never thought of losing their friendship. Whenever anything good or bad happen with me, I think about of them only. For me friendship is like life as we choose them,’ she shared.