When Aristole was once asked what friendship is, he replied thus: ''Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies'' and, the bubbly actress of Mollywood, Miya George, absolutely agrees with it saying, "hell, yes".
"For me, it's one soul in four bodies," she delightfully explains. Miya is a jovial person who loves to celebrate every moment of life. And her celebrations double up when she meets her gang of friends- Ann, Ginta and Gintu. ''Our friendship sprouted during eighth grade and it has bloomed over the years. Today, it's rare to find such kind of trustworthy and honest friends. The one who finds such friends are God's favorite childres and I believe I'm one,” giggles Miya.
The charming actress talks to Onmanorama about the importance of true friendship in one's life and the keys to sustain that lifelong.
''More often than not, people tend to get the best out of a person and then ditch them. True friendship is all about sticking to your loved ones and accepting each other's positives and negatives.
"I'm blessed with these three who have stood by me in my good and bad days.
"I know about many friends in colleges and workplaces, where people change with time and priorities. They end up breaking your heart and you get a stab instead of a thank you.
"Friendship is not an easy thing to maintain. To savour the best taste of friendship, it requires five basic ingredients- love, understanding, trust, honesty and encouragement.
"Many friendships end abruptly if one person fail to reply to messages or mails. But as far as my friends are concerned, they understand me well enough. There are times I don't reply to their messages or calls for many days due to my busy shooting schedules, but till date, they haven't made any complaints. A true friend needs this quality of understanding.
"Build up the friendship in such a way that you can talk anything and everything under the sky with your bunch. They should be the drug to your worries and blues. I have read somewhere that having some true friends reduces the risk of depression and boosts self-esteem. They have the power to make us feel worthy. I am glad to say that I'm a person who is experiencing such beautiful moments with friends.
"Whenever I feel down and need some solace, all I need is to keep aside my phone and rush to my friends, spend an hour or so with them and the magic works for me. I will be back all rejuvenated. Trust me when I say, people with solid friendship live longer happily.
"Another important aspect in a successful friendship is that never be judgmental. Appreciate the finer qualities of your friends and accept their shortcomings. Each person is unique and can be talented in many different ways. My friends are also my best critics. It's like a second family for me.
"I believe that honest communication is essential. Speak frankly about what you feel, cultivate the trust within your bunch.
"One common issue that I have found in today's generation is people are more busy and have lost time for relations. Although technology have advanced, the person-to-person interaction is limited. Today business happens around friendship. They are too busy for emotional labor or real friends. Majority of the people associate friendship with a give and take policy.
"The point that I would like to highlight here is that just like wine, friendship gets better with age. Do everything without any expectations, not even credits for a good deed. I'm truly blessed to have such true friends to the backbone. Your friendship needs to be transparent. In our life, we may come across short-time friendships and long-time ones, but whatever it be, it's important to have friends in our lives," the pretty actress concludes.
(Monday Motivation is a weekly column from celebs, where they share experiences from life, which help you to brush away Monday-morning blues and start the week with a bang, full of hope and energy.)