We are social animals and therefore we need somebody faithful to share our joys and sorrows with. Having a best friend is one of the best gifts you can receive from God. God could not be present everywhere and therefore He made us potent to make a relationship like friendship.

We all need friends with whom we can share our happiness, sadness and other important aspects of life. Sharing our insecurities with friends gives us mental peace and a feeling of protection.

The noble idea of honouring friends has really caught on with youth, and Friendship Day is celebrated joyously, especially by students. Friendship Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of August. This year, it will be celebrated on August 4th.

The American essayist and poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, said: “The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.”

A real friend is the one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out. They are the ones who understand us profoundly and remain with us for as long as we live. They do not need you to change; they accept you the way you are and listen to you whenever you need them. Your friend is the only person who does not feel jealous for your success and keeps motivating you for as long as you need them. This is the positive relation that brings forth in your life the zeal to be uniquely you. And this is what makes it worth celebrating this really significant day of Friendship Day.

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“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, Bible)

August is the month of celebrating friendships. You and your friends may have made plans to spend the day together, and some may have even bought friendship bands, too! Did you know that the concept of friendship bands dates back to the Stone Age when hunters and gatherers would exchange hand-made rings to symbolize a strong connection?

Friendship is all about strong connections and relationships. When friends come together as a unit, their strengths are amplified and they bring out the best in each other.

Just like us humans, foods too have ‘special friends’ which when combined not only improve the flavour of the meal, but also enhance nutrient absorption.

Food pairing/combining may seem like a new trend, but it’s actually an age-old tradition, practised from the time of our ancestors. Dal and Rice. Carrots with Peas. Peanut Butter and Jelly. Some combinations are simply better together!

How important is nutrient absorption?

Vitamins, minerals and other nutrients found in foods help in metabolic processes that are necessary for proper bodily functions. While maintaining a healthy diet is important, do we ever wonder what happens to the food once it reaches our stomachs? Food enters the stomach and is broken down by digestive enzymes. Waste is eliminated as it passes through, while nutrients are further absorbed in the small intestine.

Sadly, sometimes our gut doesn’t always function well. This may lead to poor absorption of nutrients and issues like exhaustion, mental fatigue, poor digestion, or skin disorders.

‘Food Besties’ that enhance nutrient absorption and are better together

Tomatoes and Olive Oil
It is an old Italian tradition to combine tomatoes with olive oil. Research reveals that when combined they boost each other’s health advantages. Lycopene, a potent antioxidant found in abundance in tomatoes, can help prevent conditions like cancer and heart disease. Lycopene is more easily absorbed when olive oil is used. E.g. home-made tomato-olive oil chutney.

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Did you know that friendships make you live a longer life? By “being a good friend”, you become kind, compassionate, understanding and adaptable. This improves all other relationships in your life too, making you happier and more gratified — all a recipe for longevity. Friends are not always easy people, mind you, but if you build on your social intelligence, you will be able to navigate your friendships to smoother waters and sense greater joy and satisfaction. Here are 5 hacks to better your friendships.

1. Engage

Friendships do not thrive passively. You shouldn’t just assume that once a friend, always a bestie. You cannot sit passively on the side of a road and expect that every passer-by will become your buddy without you even starting a conversation. Like all relationships, friendships need participative engagement. You need to “see” your friends; they’re not invisible entities who simply exist. Many a time we think, “She’s my friend, she will understand that I am busy” or that “He’s a good friend, he will know that I don’t like talking too much.” What does your friendship mean to you? In what way do you engage with your friends and “connect” with them?

Some friends meet at the local animal volunteering agency, others connect over dance, while several like meetups to try out new restaurants or art galleries. Or maybe just have a sleepover where you chat up and catch up. Figure their penchants and whether they match yours and try to build an overlap. The connectivity hormone oxytocin is released when you spend good time with someone you care for and it arouses feelings of closeness in living beings. For that, friends need to be physically as well as emotionally present with each other. Friendship isn’t about non-stop chatter and gossip, but when you become disengaged, the oxytocin connect gets completely lost. And so does the friendship eventually.

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Roald Dahl and the ‘gloriumptious’ friendships

From Matilda to The BFG, there are some truly splendiferous books that Roald Dahl wrote, and the one thing that stands out in many of the stories: the friendships. Matilda was lucky to have found the gentle and lovely Ms Honey, a teacher-turned-friend. Danny might live an unusual life in a van, but the friendship he enjoyed with his father is the stuff of dreams. But Sophie hit the jackpot when she befriended the very large and very friendly giant who turns her life around! You’re never too old to read a book by Roald Dahl

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Friendship Day is celebrated in the month of August. What type of friends do you have? What kind of friendships do you cherish and nourish? Is it restricted to just a few people of your community or of your educational and economic status? Can you not expand the circle of your friendship to include many other persons and other things like animals, birds, fish and plants? Kindness to all is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength and nobility of character. Let the circle of your friendship be stretched out in compassion towards all, for everyone has a story to tell and a song to sing. Mark Twain said, “Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”

There is a story told about Shri Buddha. When Buddha after his death reached the pearly gates of heaven, all the angels came out to welcome him into the bliss of heaven. Buddha enquired, “Have all peoples and all the creatures entered?” The angel asked, “What do you mean, all peoples and all creatures?” “Yes,” came the quick reply. “Has the last person and the last animal entered?” The angel said, “No. It will take thousands of years…” Then said Buddha, “In that case I will wait outside the door until all that has life has entered heaven.” We ourselves create heaven on this earth when we come together with these fine feelings of concern, care and compassion for all.

This issue of TTT encourages you to expand the horizons of your friendship from the present limits to wider frontiers like befriending the differently-abled, the sick and the lonely, including animals and plants. TTT wishes all our friends a very Happy Friendship Day!

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“Diamonds aren’t your best friends. It’s best friends who are your diamonds.”

Friends have a continued presence in your life. Especially in the tumultuous transition from adolescence to adulthood, many teens feel friends’ support is what makes life livable. You share your little triumphs as well as embarrassing secrets; tell them everything that happens to you (good or bad) and take their advice on major as well as little decisions. When you’re upset or sad, friends always make the time to listen, care and be there. Although this care is rendered in many other relationships, such as your siblings, cousins or parents, it somehow never adds up to the support you perceive from friends. You’re blessed with your blood family, but friends are the family you choose to love and be loved. Unconditionally. That is why it’s much easier to open your heart to friends and rely on these pillars of support throughout your life.

And yet, people can at times take these bonds for granted. That is why friendships break, and you drift apart from your buddies who were once your unrelenting support. If only you invested rightly and put in a little more time and effort into maintaining these special relations. Here are seven tips for nourishing and nurturing your friendships:

Always be appreciative

More often than we realize, we take our friends for granted; assuming that it is their birth responsibility to help us each time we need them, without being grateful for their love and time. We let our egos get in the way of showing them that we care about them. It’s important to take out the time to remind your friends that you love them, why you feel this emotion; and reinstate their value in your life. Like the popular band Coldplay said in their song, Everglow: “If you love someone, you should let them know…”

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A limited edition special friendship

Henry Ford deeply admired Thomas Alva Edison and was delighted to meet his boyhood hero at a convention. Edison praised Ford for his first automobile, a quadricycle. Years later, when Ford became a reputed automobile manufacturer, he gifted a Ford Model A to Edison in 1928. What followed was a truly fabulous friendship involving road trips together, heartfelt birthday messages and even side-by-side vacation homes. Friendship goals, huh?

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Laughs between us were never few,
Happily together we all grew.
Our stories are worth telling,
Like at us the teachers yelling.

The boys and girls we stalked,
The distance of life we walked,
We were always together and promise to remain,
Would stand together in each others’ pain.

Screenshots we shared secretly,
Understood each other so deeply,
Won’t allow each other to fall
‘Cos we are best friends among all.

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