File picture of youngsters celebrating Friendship Day and (below) a variety of friendship bands on display at gift stores in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 3: Youngsters in the capital are brimming with enthusiasm to celebrate Friendship Day, which falls on the first Sunday of August.

From wristbands and droll gifts, special party offers to buzzing activity on social networking sites, the youth in the city is spoilt for choice to celebrate a fun-filled day with friends.

Witty messages with humorous illustrations and quotes are already being posted and tagged on social networking sites and the trend is only getting more and more popular with today’s generation.

Whether teenagers or undergraduates, the spirit of Friendship Day is visible among youngsters here.

“I am connected to all my best friends on popular networking sites. I believe the best way to make your friends feel important is by tagging them all on one message post, so that the same message can be dedicated to each of them. There are very interesting and heartfelt quotes for Friendship Day available on the Internet,” said Tamas Mishra, a Plus Two student.

“We have great fun teasing each other in the comment thread and it becomes even better on this day,” he added.

But many have plans that are not just limited to making merry in the online world. The rise in sale of gifts and the evergreen friendship bands gives a hint of the plans of the youngsters.

“Friendship is the most popular emotion among the youth and anything associated with this word is gaining attention from the young crowd. In fact, observing this trend over the years, we have come up with a wide range of gifts such as friendship mugs, photo frames, watches and even pairs of T-shirts that have illustrations or messages connected to each other,” said Krishan Modi, proprietor of a gift store in Kharavela Nagar.

“Each of these gifts is immensely popular but nothing beats friendship bands. The demand for these is higher than even last year,” he said.

The novel gifts come at a pocket-pinching price, but the easiest way to express one’s affection for friends is indeed the smartly designed wristbands. They come in a wide range of fabrics and make for a sweet keepsake.

For your friend is boy, go for leather bands studded with steel emblems. If your friend is a girl, go with beaded bands as well as those made with precious stones. Fibre, wool, satin and many other elements have also been used to create exclusively crafted friendship bands. The price range begins at as low as Rs 15 for the bands.

“I love wearing wristbands since they look stylish and the ones gifted by friends on this day special,” said Pratima Behera, a college student.