Friendship bands on display at a shop in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 5: As soon as August begins, messages celebrating the bond of friendship start flooding cellphones, social networking sites and the e-mail inbox.

The first Sunday of the month is Friendship Day, and so groups of youngsters are already buying gifts, greeting cards and, of course, friendship bands in trendy designs that have inundated the market.

The internet plays the perfect messenger for friends who have a strong bond but live miles away from one another. A wide range of special e-cards and messages complete with animation images offered by hundreds of websites for free have become huge hits.

It’s not only fuzzy warm messages though, youngsters in the city are all set to gift something special and see a smile light up their special friend’s face.

Gift shops are full of exclusive greeting cards with colourful images and humorous quotes for Friendship Day. Soft toys, showpieces and a special range of gift items are also available.

“Lots of customers are already coming in, most of them youngsters, looking for unique gift items or cards with funny as well as emotional messages,” said Pankaj Tiwari, manager of a gift store.

Stores as well as kiosks that are selling rakhis offer a stylish range of friendship bands.

Stones, metal and bead embellishments on the fabric ranging from velvet, silk, fibre and leather have a huge following. The bands that have “friend” written on them are immensely popular.

Akankshya Pani, a Plus Two student, has not one or two, but three best friends. “I have three best friends and we always exchange friendship bands on the occasion. I chose a different one for each of them since there are so many trendy designs available everywhere,” she said. The friendship bands start at Rs 10 per piece.

International Friendship Day of the United Nations may be observed on July 30 from this year onwards, but the youngsters in the city are glad to celebrate the occasion on a Sunday (August 7 this year).

“Sunday is the best day to be with your friends and celebrate. Since shopping malls, coffee shops and restaurants have come up with special offers on the occasion, we are going to have a blast on Friendship Day this time,” said Sambit Sahoo, another student.