Author: Sivalenka Laxmi Neeraja

There was a time when Friendship Day wasn’t just another date on the calendar.

It was an event.

A full-fledged operation.

Weeks before the big day, we’d start planning which friendship bands to buy, secretly calculating our “Friendship Day budget” like tiny financial advisors.

And somehow, we all followed the same unwritten rules.

Rule #1: Expensive Bands Were Reserved for VIP Friends

here was always that one friend.

The “best friend.”

The one who got the fancy band with glitter, tiny hearts, maybe even one that said Best Friends Forever in bold golden letters.

Meanwhile…

Everyone else got the ₹5 friendship band from the next pile.

No discrimination.

Just… different investment strategies.

Rule #2: The Goal Wasn’t Friendship

It Was Wrist Coverage.

Let’s be honest.

Half of us tied bands to people we barely spoke to.

Why?

Because walking around school with only three friendship bands was social suicide.

The real flex was reaching home with both hands completely covered.

If someone had bands all the way to their elbows…

Congratulations.

They had officially won Friendship Day.

Rule #3: The Silent Cold War

“I know it’s Friendship Day.”

“I know she knows.”

“But I’m not wishing first.”

Hours passed.

Both pretending not to care.

Both secretly checking whether the other person had already tied a band to someone else.

Childhood ego was truly something else.

Rule #4: The Emergency Friendship Band

You suddenly noticed someone walking toward you…

…holding a friendship band.

Panic.

You hadn’t bought one for them.

So you quickly borrowed one from another friend or dug through your school bag hoping a spare band had magically appeared.

Survival instincts kicked in.

Rule #5: The Band Exchange Economy

“Give me your blue one.”

“No, I’ll give you this one if you give me the shiny one.”

For one day every year, friendship bands became an unofficial currency.

Negotiations were intense.

Deals were made.

Trades were successful.

Nobody questioned it.

Rule #6: The Teacher Who Ended the Celebration

Just when everyone was busy tying friendship bands…

A teacher would walk in.

“No more friendship bands in class.”

Instant silence.

Bands disappeared into pockets faster than homework on inspection day.

Rule #7: The One Friend Who Forgot

Every class had one.

They came empty-handed.

And spent the whole day saying,

“I forgot at home.”

Sure.

We believed you.

Looking Back…

We measured friendship with colourful bands.

We counted them as trophies.

We compared wrists during lunch break.

We got upset over who wished first.

We believed one glittery band could define an entire friendship.

It sounds silly now.

But somehow…

Those tiny traditions became some of our happiest school memories.

Maybe Friendship Day was never really about the bands.

It was about having people who made school feel a little less ordinary.

And honestly…

I’d still choose those colourful, slightly chaotic school celebrations over a hundred forwarded “Happy Friendship Day” messages.

Happy Friendship Day to everyone who’s ever filled our wrists—and our memories—with colour. 💛