Friendships Are Like Plants That Must Be Nurtured, And Just As Diverse

For some unknown reason I’ve been very keen on gardening for the last few months and I’ve realised that friendship is a lot like plants….not just a garden but all plants.

You have your fake plants, the plastic ones that look real and very popular but don’t really fool anyone. These are your forced friendships, the one where you both know the smile is fake but you have to do it for whatever reasons.

Then you have the plants which have been gifted to you by someone, you feel obliged to water them and some of them end up flourishing and some die a quiet death and you really don’t mind. These are your social obligation friendships.

Next up are your indoor plants. Most of them are fussy and require a lot of care….drama queens. You water them, put them in sunlight, nurture them and yet they refuse to flourish…exactly like your toxic friends who put the entire burden of friendship on you and guilt trip you all the time.

You have the so called hardy plants that everyone swore would never die no matter what you did and at first they seem to do fine with very little care until one day they just up and die and you never know why. These are the friends you thought you could rely on but suddenly ghost you or just disappear.

And then you have the reliable house plants which need moderate sunlight and occasional watering. They don’t take much time or effort but they survive, if you occasionally mess up and forget to water on the right day they don’t die immediately.

These are your everyday friendships.

There are those plants that have bloomed from the seeds you planted and you have watered them regularly and they have grown and flourished. Just looking at them fills you with joy. Some of them may flower, some may not; not everyone will think your garden is beautiful but you chose each and every one of these plants and put in the effort needed to make them grow…they are special for you.

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These plants are like your closest friends.

And then you have plants like …daisies. You never remember planting them or watering them and yet one day they are waving at you in the sunlight. You have no idea how they came to be there but they fill you with happiness. These are your unexplained friendships. You don’t know why you are friends or even how and maybe you don’t even meet regularly: all you know is that this friend fills you with happiness and against all odds this friend is always there when you really need them.

Friends are like plants, and there will be the occasional weed too…just like that person who insists on calling you a friend even though you hate them and keep on removing them from your life.

Friends are like plants, we need them and we need a variety of them and not all of them require the same effort but put in the work and you will be with a smile on your lips more often than not.

Remember that famous jingle…‘kyunki har ek friend zaroori hota hai.”

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