Top 12 Important Qualities a Good Friend must have

Friends – a 7 letter word which has too many memories, too many meanings and too many emotions attached with it. Be it a school dance or a college fest, a wedding or a hangover, your friends have seen it all. We all realize, as we grow up, that having a group of fun loving friends is one thing, but having that one special friend who knows the true you, is a privilege that very few of us enjoy. So what really makes a “good friend”? Read on to find out –

12) Unpaid chauffeur– From lending you his favorite shirt for a date, or his bike for a ride, it goes without saying that everything that belongs to him, belongs to you as well. Remember that famous Airtel tune? Making coffee for you on your post breakup nights, managing notes for you a night before the exams, getting you first day first show tickets of your favorite actor’s movie, you name it, he will do it. No questions, no complaints, no demands but yeah lots of drama! After all, what are friends for? Pretty much for everything!

11) Wing man – No matter how much you both fight, there is one thing a good friend will always be and that is loyal. Loyalty has various manifestations. Be it never indulging in gossiping behind your back, never allowing anyone else to pick on you, never letting out your secrets or any other situation. It just means standing by your side when you need him and even when you don’t! Even when the whole world will be against you, he would be there by your side. Over time, over distance, over fights, he will always be there by your side. Be it the “have you met Ted” ice-breakers or the most embarrassing moments, you can not get rid of him, nor do you want to, we know!

10) Abusive – If a friend is not abusive, who else would be? The first sign of a good friendship is when you can openly abuse each other at any time in the day or on any issue big or small. From trivial daily abuses to the major ones on your achievements, a good friend is your encyclopedia to new and innovative abuses. People who do not know your relationship with him might as well mistake you two to be arch rivals, but then that is the fun of it!

9) Understanding – From your “are you thinking what I am thinking” look to your mood swings, a good friend understands most things without you explaining it to him. You both share telepathic jokes in a group, know how to handle each other in the “I will kill anything that crosses my way today” phase and have similar opinions on major issues. A good friend is the only one who can hear the “I need you” when you scream “go away”. He would accept you the way you are.

8) No questions asked – Be it a tough situation where you need help or be it a person you just can’t bear to look at, a good friend will be there by your side, no questions asked. Many “so-called” friends would give you the excuse of maintain cordial relationships, but only a good friend will be at your side and cast a particular person in his hate list just because you do. In various tricky and embarrassing situations, only a good friend will first help you and later ask you why.

7) Family syndrome – A good friend will be like your sibling to your parents. Whenever your parents can’t reach you, he is the one they call. Having him home for the night or during any celebration seems normal to everyone and he knows all your close family members. He enters your house and opens up the refrigerator to get water if he is thirsty. You never have to offer him a seat, your bed is the place he will crash when he is at your place. The biggest blackmail that he uses on you is “should I tell your mom” because, yeah, he has your complete family’s number.

6) Comforting – A bad test, a break up, a bad hair day or just exam-stress, a good friend will forget his worries and be by your side every time you need a hand to hold or a shoulder to cry on. You can vent out all your worries, insecurities and nervousness to him and he will be the rock to hold you together. He values you more than anything else and would let you realize that often.

5) Protective – This may sound weird but it is true. A good friend is the one who is protective about you. He might criticize, abuse or make fun of you himself but if someone else does it, it is show time. He would never be a part of the group or conversation which puts you down. Rather he would sense your disrespect even before you do. Yeah, you kind of have a mutual body-guard relationship there. People would be envious of the same, but none of you cares! After a point of time, any one commenting on either of you knows it is going to be one VS two.

4) Informal – From seeing you in your worst state at home to eating off your plate, formality is a taboo for him. None of his texts/call/conversations are even remotely formal let alone respectful. He does not need to seek permission to crash at your place or hog on your lunch. Formality is fake to him. Rather in one of your inside jokes you both pretend to seek permission from each other and then tear up laughing!

3) Best critic – He would never tell you that you have lost weight if you have not, or that dress suits you if it does not. Some people may call it brutal honesty but a good friend is the one who will never lead you to the wrong path even if the right path is hurtful. He is that person who you can fall back to for extremely honest opinion on anything and everything. Even though he wants your betterment, he would never lie to you to make you feel good. His criticism would ensure that you are more careful the next time. It helps, trust me. It keeps you grounded.

2) Over dramatic – Be it your achievement or your failure, he will be as dramatic as a Bollywood movie can get. From jumping on your bed to posting a meter long PDA posts on your Facebook wall, he will do it all to let the world know about your achievement and his pride in the same. ”. Yeah, sometimes he owns up all your efforts and that doesn’t bother you at all! As you can put up with all his drama, so can he. In your blues and all your colors, he can pull you out of that dirty sweatshirt, get you dressed and get you to party with the least amount of blackmail input! He is a little bit of crazy, mature and lively all at the same time!

1) Noncompetitive – In this age where everything is comparative, be it your college grade or entrance tests to universities, competition is what kills a friendship more than anything else. Despite all the pressure, difficulties, stress and what not, a good friend will always be happy in your achievements. He has two parallel worlds, your achievements and his own and he is equally ecstatic about each one of them. For him your friendship matters more than marks or any materialistic gains on his or your resume. Your progress is never an object of envy for him, rather it is an opportunity to extort another treat from you! The one who crosses this test for you, will be your treasured friend for life!

So identify the people who live a part of their life for you, make sure you put in as much effort for them as they do for you. Whenever you find someone who ticks off most of the things from this list, hold on tight! After all good friends are rare to find and tough to maintain. As Ted Mosby says, when you find someone you want around for a long time, you must do something about it! So pick up your phone and give that friend a call, thank him for all that he has done for you, give him 2 or 3 abuses and tell him you value him. Be that friend to him, the one you want him to be to you.

As gooey as this sounds, he will be there for you forever! Let us know your crazy friendship stories in the comments!