In an Aesop fable three bulls
grazing in a meadow, were keenly watched by a Lion, who longed to eat them.
However, he was being resisted by the strategy of the three bulls who kept
together; whenever he came near they turned their tails to one another, so that
whichever way he approached them he was met by the horns of one of them.
So he began by spreading rumours
to cause distrust among them. This method worked so well that at last, the bulls
grew cold and unfriendly towards each other. Finally they began to avoid each
other and grazed in isolation. Sensing his opportunity, the Lion attacked them
one by one and devoured all three.
The
moral of the story is simple. The quarrels of friends are the opportunities of
foes. However, it is pertinent to note that a friendship that was built over a
period of time could be undone by flimsy reasons. It takes considerable time and
effort to build a friendship but it is so easy to ‘unfriend’ the relationship.
On social networking sites,
virtual friendship is often undone by the act of unfriending. Here, the foundation
of the friendship itself might be on weak ground. The connection may be based
on presumed commonalities or sometimes the friendship is accepted without any
serious application of mind or heart. In the virtual web, connections are
superficial.
However, in the real
world friendships are real. So often, we allow frivolous talk to trigger the
collapse of a relationship that took time to build. The very relationship, that
united us to positively impact our lives, is prone to disruption because we
stop continuous communication and togetherness actions.
Relationships thrive
on the constant exchange of hopes and worries, dreams and doubts, impressions
and expressions. Unfriending happens because distance creeps in the connection.
Hence, it is important to keep in touch and unite to impact like the three
bulls kept in touch to thwart the lion. It is said so well that ‘not keeping in
touch is injurious to friendship’.
The gaps lead to the careless unfriending
act
‘Unite
to impact’ to keep a friendship intact!
- Pravin K. Sabnis
Goa, India.
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