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Hello friends!

Tomorrow is Friendship Day. It's time to buy bands and gifts and plan for parties. Deepa H Ramakrishnan on the trend

BAND WITH THE BEST Friendship Day is here Photo:T. SINGARAVELOU

For many, tomorrow (August 6) will be a day to call and meet friends, renew old friendships and recall moments when friends stood by you in times of need. Over the years, the concept of Friendship Day (the first Sunday of the month of August) has caught on. Of course there are people, who criticise such celebrations as Western imports, but there's no denying that the concept of Friendship Day appeals to many.

Each chooses his/her own way of celebrating it — quietly or packed with fun and party. You can spot many youngsters buying friendship bands.

"I have celebrated Friendship Day even when I was studying in Shantiniketan. We didn't have bands then but would meet for a cup of tea. This year, we haven't yet decided what to do. But I might do a bit of singing and chatting over cups of coffee and tea," says Abdulla Omar, who is doing his masters in theatre art in Pondicherry University.

A passionate biker, Badrinarayanan, who is in college, says he would go for a ride on the ECR with his gang of 10 friends. "We would probably exchange bands and spend some time sitting at our favourite spot on the beach. We would also play football and then go watch a movie."

Another college-goer, S. Shejina plans to call up friends from school, tie bands, exchange greeting cards and have a small treat. "My five best friends from school and I will fix a time on Sunday and meet. Though we go to different colleges now, we call and meet each other regularly. But being together on the Friendship Day is a special feeling."

According to Kumar, who works for a private concern, "These concepts have grown in popularity only in the recent times in South India. Though I have a group of friends and we meet regularly, we won't be doing anything special on the Friendship Day. I did celebrate, just once with a group of friends, when I was in college. Of course, minus fancy bands that do the rounds today."

Several shops in Pondicherry, including Elle Boutique, Jaya Emporium, Casablanca, Hallmark, Archies Gallery, Nilgiris and even the roadside shops stock these bands.

At Archies Gallery on Mission Street, you can pick up friendship bands, gifts such as teddy bears, ceramic dolls and mugs with special wordings on them. "We have bands priced from 1 rupee to Rs. 60. And people are buying them in bunches. For children we have bands with cartoon characters," says Andal Moorthy of Archies. At Nilgiris on Mission Street, there are handmade bands. These are made of jute and have flowers and wordings on them. R. Baskar, manager, Niligiris says, "We have a special offer too. On the purchase of the band one can get a portrait of your done for free on August 4, 5 and 6. Girls can also get a free makeover done at our Lakme sales counter by beauticians from Chennai."

Since Raksha Bandhan falls on August 9, you can see girls picking up rakhis along with friendship bands and boys going in for fancy gifts for their friends and sisters. There's an amazing variety of rakhis flooding the market — with silver coating, with a miniature plate containing coconuts and many more.

So, it's time to celebrate friendship.

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