Who is a true friend?

Recently, I happened to see two young girls, virtually clinging to each other and sauntering along a sidewalk.

A man, looking like a riff-raff, in inebriated state, suddenly sprang from somewhere, and began harrying them. One of the girls sprinted many feet away, leaving the other girl behind, who stood stumped with a petrified look. None of the onlookers, including her friend, rushed to her rescue, as everyone wanted to ‘play it safe’, to evade getting enmeshed in unwanted hassles. Finally, a traffic cop drove the drunkard away. Ironically this happened on Friendship Day! 

Interestingly, reams have been written about the attributes of a true friend – S/he is the one who steps into the breach to bail you out, when you are stuck on a sticky wicket. When mentally agitated, she alleviates your mental distress by her comforting pep talk. She understands the entire gamut of your emotions, without you having to express them explicitly. By her umpteen thoughtful gestures, she keeps instilling joy in you, thus making you feel always special. 

A true friend is the one with whom you share great interpersonal equation, enjoying high levels of comfort in her presence. She is the one who can be fully trusted, and hence you speak to her, as you speak to your mind. She is the one who identifies your success/happiness as hers. Apparently, she is shorn of those jealous pangs, since she is aware that when ‘J’ factor creeps in a friendship, it simply corrodes the very structure of it. 

Also, a true friend is the one who has genuine singular love for you, who cares for you unconditionally. And, she is certainly not the one who hobnobs with you, to batten on benefits in a relationship. In a nutshell, in her company you enjoy rollicking moments, revelling in rumbustious fun, the pleasant memories of which you ruminate even in her absence.

 Besides all the above qualities, a true friend is also the one who not only refrains from hurting you in any way, but also sees to it that you aren’t hurt or harmed by anyone else. Hence, whenever you are mired in difficult situations, she instantly pounces to your defence, without caring much about her own image or safety. Perhaps, this is one aspect of true friendship, which isn’t much spoken about. 

But unfortunately, nowadays, one rarely comes across such bonafide friends. The times when you’d have accidentally got embroiled in some mess, and when you’d be sorely in need of someone’s help/support, if your so-called friends are playing it safe, without coming to your rescue, then of what use are such friends, who sacrifice friendship at the altar of self-protecting drive? In that case, aren’t you better off having these ‘playing-safe’ friends at a safe distance?!