Friendship Day 2018: This year, the day will be celebrated on August 5. (Source: Thinkstock/Getty Images) Friendship Day 2018: This year, the day will be celebrated on August 5. (Source: Thinkstock/Getty Images)
While we have specific days dedicated to our mothers, fathers and siblings, it is only fair to celebrate the beautiful bond of friendship. Friends are the family we choose — therefore, they hold a significant place in our lives. It is a relationship that begins when two people share their happiness and sorrows with each other and spend time together. Every year, on the first Sunday of August, most people across the world come together to celebrate this day with their BFFs. This year, it will be celebrated on August 5.
ALSO READ| Happy Friendship Day 2018 Wishes Quotes, Images
Friendship day celebrations actually take place on different dates across different countries. In Ohio, Friendship Day is usually celebrated on April 8. After the World Friendship Crusade proposed July 30, 1958 as the first Friendship Day, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared this date as the official day of celebrations. But nowadays, it is celebrated on the first Sunday of August, including India and US.
ALSO READ| Friendship Day 2018: Hang out with your BFFs at these spots in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata
Friendship day origin
Interestingly, the first International Friendship Day was proposed in 1958 in Paraguay. Friendship day was originated by the founder of Hallmark cards, Joyce Hall, on August 2, 1930. Before that, this special occasion was promoted through greeting cards, but later on, people realised it was a scheme to increase consumerism. Following the success of the day in US, Nane Annan, the wife of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, declared Winnie the Pooh as the global Ambassador of Friendship at the UN in 1998.
ALSO READ| Friendship Day 2018 Date: When is Friendship Day celebrated in India?
On July 20, 1958, Dr Ramon Artemio Bracho came up with the idea of a World Friendship Day during a dinner with his friends in Puerto Pinasco, a town in Paraguay. Ever since then countries like Paraguay and Brazil celebrate the occasion on that day.
People in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and South American countries, celebrate the day by gifting each other colourful friendship bands and flowers.
ALSO READ | Friendship Day 2018 Gift Ideas: 7 gifts to add a personal touch to your friend’s life
Celebrating the bond of friendship dates back to the epic Mahabharata that was written during the 4th Century CE. The celebration of friendship day took place in the province of Ayodhya. It occurs when Lord Krishna’s friend, Sudama arrived in his kingdom after a long journey.
How will you be celebrating the day? Let us know in the comments section below.
For all the latest Lifestyle News, download Indian Express App
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Friendship Day 2018: What are your plans for the day with your buddies? (Source: File Photo) Friendship Day 2018: What are your plans for the day with your buddies? (Source: File Photo)
Not that friendship needs a day to celebrate the bond that two people share, but the first Sunday of August is celebrated as Friendship Day every year. While greeting card companies have commercialised the day, it is commonly celebrated to mark the sentiment of friendship. Many Bollywood movies have beautifully portrayed the bond in films — right from Sholay and Yaraana and Amar Akbar Anthony — featuring megastars like Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra and Amjad Khan. In the early ’90s, movies like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Dostana and Dil Chahta Hai brought the feeling alive on celluloid.
ALSO READ| Happy Friendship Day 2018 Wishes Quotes, Images
Happy Friendship Day 2018 Wishes Images: Send these heartfelt wishes to your friends. (Designed by Nidhi Mishra/ Indian Express) Happy Friendship Day 2018 Wishes Images: Send these heartfelt wishes to your friends. (Designed by Nidhi Mishra/ Indian Express)
ALSO READ | Friendship Day 2018: ‘Little Women’ to ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’, 5 beautiful books on female friendships
What is friendship day?
Friendship Day is quite popular in metro cities and now the trend has reached even the II tier cities. On this day friends meet each other and exchange greetings cards or gifts. Apart from that people also exchange pink and yellow roses as these roses are popular as Friendship Day flowers. Also, gift boxes and a lot of frenzy bands, bracelets and other personalised jewellery items are bought to honour the occasion. The market and online portals are filled with bracelets, lockets, pendants and other accessories in order to express feelings towards your beloved friend.
ALSO READ | Friendship Day 2018: Hang out with your BFFs at these spots in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata
On this day, several restaurants, clubs, bars and other such places put out special discounts and offers to enhance the celebratory mood of the day. People visit these places to spend some quality time with their friends and celebrate this special day with great fanfare. So, where are you heading out with your BFFs this year?
For all the latest Lifestyle News, download Indian Express App
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
The first-ever International Friendship Day was celebrated in Paraguay in the year 1958 to honour friends and cherish the special bond one has with their pals. Over the years, the celebrations for Friendship Day has changed vastly- from personalised, handwritten greeting cards and notes to digital messages on social media platforms and emergence of emoticons to express oneself better-- but the essence behind this day still remains the same.On the occasion of Friendship Day which falls on August 5 this year, here are 10 quotes by famous authors on friendship that prove that there's nothing better in life than having friends who are always there for you.
Friends are the family we choose and it is difficult to imagine life without them. They are the ones who understand us when no one else can, and stand next to us through our thick and thin. We can trust them with our darkest secrets and be assured they won’t judge us.In fact, our life would not have been the same without our besties, right? What’s the better occasion to express your love for them than Friendship Day itself!In case, you are looking for some interesting wishes, SMS, images and status to make your friends feel, here is some help.• A good friend is a connection to life — a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world. Happy Friendship Day!• Having a soulmate is not always about love. You can find your soulmate in a friendship too. Thanks for being there in my life. Happy Friendship Day!• There are certain people who make the world a better place just by being in it. Thanks for being one of those people! A big hug and Happy Friendship Day!• Hey, you! Yes, you! Thanks for being always there. Do I need to tell you today is Friendship Day and you need to wish me that?• You know who is a friend?The one who sees your first drop of tear,Catches the second,Stops the third,andTurns the 4th into a smile!• God is so wise! He didn’t create friends with price tags because if he did, I couldn’t have afforded you! Happy Friendship Day!• Friendship is really the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love. - Jane Austen• A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.- Walter Winchell• I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the night. - Helen Keller• Friendship is the only cement that will hold the world together. - Woodrow Wilson• If Friendship is your weakest point then you are the strongest person in the world. - Abraham Lincoln• Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful - a meaningful friend or a meaningful day. - Dalai Lama• Anybody can sympathise with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathise with a friend's success.- Oscar Wilde(Images: Shutterstock)
