On this special day, it comes naturally to be looking before and after, of friends that have been and friends that are, of learnings and earnings, of solemn memories and pauperdom, of the joys and richness. For sure the years and years that have been lived with and in the most beautiful of all relationships -friendship is the years I  cherish fondly and yes, sometimes nostalgically too.  
A friendship may sprout from a coincidental meeting or in the setting of a class or workplace, a chance happening or a clicking leading to gelling together. The most wonderful of all human relationships is friendship which denotes a bonding without a binding, detached attachment. Such a beautiful relationship connotes acceptance per se of an individual by another with a lot of inherent mutual respect as its lubricant, its life force. It does not arrive easily in one’s life, it’s a pure blessing symbolic of His grace and benevolence. They say true friends are hard to find and I think it’s as hard as searching for good human beings. We meet hundreds and hundreds of people in life but friends are just a handful, a few only that you can count on ‘in good times, in bad times knowing they wud always care for you.’
A friend is someone whom you can reach without actually or literally reaching out. Friends are real soul connects who understand without explanations, who need no excuses, who can touch the chords of your being without even being in touch for whatsoever time span.
Only a friend can be what one is and say what must be said without a biting hurtful tone or tenor; only a friend can fathom the deepest recesses of your mind and heart from your silence or words, facial expression or a tone of the message, a shifted gaze or a bowed head, a forlorn look or an un-noticeable sigh. Friends don’t have to be told, they listen without words and understand, too. They take on themselves the onus no one puts on them. They Are there not for the asking but as a matter of course in times of your sorrow or grief, misfortune or bad stars. They stealthily heal without showing and take away the pain which is not easy for anyone to share with anyone. 
The world wears a wonderful aura when friends exist, their very being on earth, in this world. The years may come and years may go but they remain in your life literally like a pole star and the lighthouse that show the way just by being there where they are. It is the noblest of all relationships after the family ties and no wonder sometimes they even surpass the familial and other social relationships in depth and ability to hold things together.
Friendship defies definitions. There is so much at the soul and intuitive level that friendships transcend the tides of space and time in fractions of seconds. Friends are treasures to be cherished and above all handled with care, concern, lots of respect and sense of individual’s un tresspssable space and freedom. It’s the light that needs to be kept kindled with kindredness. 
On this special day, I bow my head in reverence and affection to all the friends who have been with me in my thick and thin, in weathers tough and rough and terrains difficult and seemingly unsurpassable. They are the life force that I have been blessed with, ‘they are the light in my deepest, darkest hour and saviors when I fall’. 
Thank you, thank you very much from the bottom of my heart to all my friends for being there even when I have been difficult and a bit unbecoming myself in testing times and circumstances.