Who is a friend to another? When we look at another person, we focus on two things. (a) Are his/her feelings okay? and (b) Is his/her behaviour okay?
A ‘friend’ is highly focussed towards his friend’s feelings, less towards his actions. He is more into empathy than into judgement. Just as a mother’s emotional balloon envelopes her children’s jagged feelings, a friend seeks first to soothe, then to advise.
Nowadays we use the word ‘friend’ loosely, covering a wide range of relationships, from the most casual to the most loyal. The Indian language is more subtle and differentiates between levels. Even between ‘mitra’ and ‘sakha’, ‘mitra’ is deeper and has less expectations. ‘Sakha’ still expects a good time from his association with his friend through common activities and emotions. ‘Mitra’ is just there, even if interactions have reduced greatly. He is always ready to help.
