International Friendship day

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Friendship Day is a day celebrated in several countries for commemorating friendship. It was first proposed in 1958 in Paraguay as "International Friendship Day". It was initially promoted by the greeting cards' industry, evidence from social networking sites shows a revival of interest in the holiday that may have grown with the spread of the Internet, particularly in India, Bangladesh, and Malaysia. Mobile phones, digital communication and social media have contributed to popularize the custom. Those who promote the holiday in South Asia associate the tradition of dedicating a day in the honour of friends to have originated in the United States in 1935 but it actually dates back to 1919. The exchange of Friendship Day gifts like flowers, cards and wrist bands is a popular tradition on this occasion. Friendship Day celebrations occur on different dates in various countries. The first World Friendship Day was proposed for 30 July in 1958, by the World Friendship Crusade. On 27 April 2011, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared 30 July as official International Friendship Day. However, some countries, like India, celebrate Friendship Day on the first Sunday of August. In Nepal, Friendship day is celebrated on 30 July each year. In Oberlin, Ohio, Friendship Day is celebrated on 9 April each year.

Friendship Day was originated by Joyce Hall, the founder of Hallmark cards in 1930, intended to be 2 August and a day when people celebrated their friendships by holiday celebrations. Friendship Day was promoted by the greeting card National Association during the 1920s but met with consumer resistance – given that it was too obviously a commercial gimmick to promote greetings cards. In the 1940s the number of Friendship Day cards available in the U.S. by had dwindled and the holiday largely died out there. There is no evidence to date for its uptake in Europe; however, it has been kept alive and revitalised in Asia, where several countries have adopted it.

In honour of Friendship Day in 1998, Nane Annan, wife of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, named Winnie the Pooh as the world's Ambassador of Friendship at the United Nations. The event was co-sponsored by the U.N. Department of Public Information and Disney Enterprises and was co-hosted by Kathy Lee Gifford.

Some friends acknowledge each other with exchanges of gifts and cards on this day. Friendship bands are very popular in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and parts of South America. With the advent of social networking sites, Friendship Day is also being celebrated online. The commercialization of the Friendship Day celebrations has led to some dismissing it as a "marketing gimmick". But nowadays it is celebrated on the first Sunday of August rather than 30 July. However, on 27 July 2011, the 65th Session of the United Nations General Assembly declared 30 July as "International Day of Friendship".

The idea of a World Friendship Day was first proposed on 20 July 1958 by Dr Ramon Artemio Bracho during a dinner with friends in Puerto Pinasco, a town on the River Paraguay about 200 miles north of Asuncion, Paraguay. Out of this humble meeting of friends, the World Friendship Crusade was born. The World Friendship Crusade is a foundation that promotes friendship and fellowship among all human beings, regardless of race, colour or religion. Since then, 30 July has been faithful, celebrated as Friendship Day in Paraguay every year and has also been adopted by several other countries.



And on this friendship day, I am going to share the story of my friendship with my friend Mekyla. We first met in elementary school. We were not that close of friends when we first met we just had some common friends. So basically our friendship began in 1st grade, our teacher made us sit together that time we remember that I used to hardly even talk that much it was her who used talk so much then one day we became friends, we were not in the same class but used to often meet after school. Then in 3rd grade, we were in the same class, we became very close friends and even the teachers and some of our friends saw how strong friends we had become so sometimes when the teacher was teaching us and when we were partners, when we used to sit together we would be busy talking so than teacher's decision to make us sit separately but we used to sit together during break time. I used to often invite her to my birthday parties, village feast and for Christmas, we would have sleepover's and would stay up late at night playing games. And this is one of our favourite memories on the feast of our lady of rosary church. On this day she would come to my place to stay because we would go on the giant wheel and other rides. In 2017 her mom left for the UK and that year, unfortunately, she changed school as well but she was always in my thoughts. In 2019 her mom decided to take her to the UK and this happened too quickly and I couldn't see any more, but we kept in contact with each other from the UK as well. We often chat with each other to discuss what we do. We called each other and kept pet names for mine was "dwin" and hers were "Makki" and "mickey". But I still miss the days we spent together in school, sleepover's and feast together. And if someday I see a shooting star I would wish for going back to India after this COVID-19 and spent those fun days together again and this is how our friendship started, but we still are best friends and will always be and we are still in touch, call each other during our free time and whenever possible.

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