Friendship Day?

For some reason it has taken me this long to notice that we have something called Friendship Day. I have friends, do not get me wrong! and I like them too, in more than a few cases. I think one of the reasons for noticing them afresh may possibly be the fact I have never been to South America. Apparently friendship was invented there. And then brought back by stout Cortez to the land of Hallmark where Joyce Hall, the monarch of the moment took it from him, knighted him with a party hat and decided on an August date as it was a period of flagging sales between Easter and Christmas. Amazingly enough, it appears the good old Land of Crass Commercialism did not like the idea as it was too commercial and gimmicky even for them. 

As with any global crisis these days, it then fell upon the UN and a bunch of Asian tigers to save the day. Or was it the other way round? Any way...the day was given priority over world hunger in April 2011 by the UN and was embraced by India and Malaysia with more enthusiasm than a drunk uncle on Holi. The rest as they say is history. 

Today social networking means we are able to wish good or evil thoughts to a multitude of people at one swoop. I sent a song out,  meaningful and carefully chosen. Now I realise, I should have picked a bunch of luridly coloured roses with impossibly blue butterflies pollinating them instead, as the song is a Bengali folk song that is unlikely to appeal to more than ten people if even that. I better go and do that! Before all the fake flowers are gone! But before going, I have to say... I would much rather have friends than not have them. And I don't need people from South America or Hallmark to tell me that....:)