MUMBAI: For Somy Ali, true friendship is when you need someone during a really bad phase in your life and they give up everything and come to your aid. The actor-turned-humanitarian shares that friends who prioritize you more than anything else and support you during your troubled times are rare to find.
 
“We all have tons of fair-weather friends whom we party with and maybe even gossip with. But, I prefer being my own best friend rather than to the former and call those my friends who are there for me always, no matter the day, time, occasion or distance between us,” she says talking on the occasion of International Friendship Day.
 
Sharing the unique friendship she cherishes in her life, Somy adds that all ‘No More Tears’ Donors are her real friends. “I have not met many of them nor do I know them personally, but that has no significance to the bond we share. They believe in my cause, thus believe in me, which proves that they care about me and my mission. My take on friendship is those who believe in what I get out of bed for each morning,” she puts it straight.
 
Can there be life without friends? And, she replies, “Definitely! I am an introvert by nature and my time from Monday to Sunday is spent with victims therefore, I am a living example of one who has acquaintances, but not any specific best friends.”
 
There are people who don’t believe in friendship. But Somy does not belong to that group. “I believe in friendship only if one is lucky enough to find a genuine one. At the risk of sounding extremely pessimistic, it is difficult to find genuine and unselfish people in our world. Again, having said that, it does not mean that there are others who have not found true friends. I am happy for those individuals,” she clarifies.
 
But more than anything else, she does not believe in all these special days being celebrated. And, she does not believe in friendship day too. “I find days dedicated to anything relevant to our emotional attachments completely ridiculous. In my opinion, these days are all economical boosts. Our parents don’t need a specific day to know that they mean the world to us and nor do our siblings and friends,” she signs off.