Last Monday morning while I was setting up for my morning class at Bansilalpet, a student came up to me, grabbed my wrist, and tied a red ribbon around it.

“Happy Friendship Day, teacher!” she said.

I looked around and all of the students had red ribbons tied around their wrists. The ribbons had white letters that said things like “My Special Friend”, “My Best Friend”, and “Happy Friendship Day”. Some students had different colored bands, some only had a few, and some had so many that they filled both wrists nearly to their elbows.

Friendship Day is a popular holiday in India which takes place on the first Sunday of August. One of my teaching assistants, Gita, told me that within the past three years the holiday has become increasingly more popular, especially within junior high and high schools.

“It’s a really cute holiday that the children get excited about,” she said. “But I think it is an important day too. It promotes peace and understanding, caring and sharing.”

I wasn’t surprised that friendship was an important theme in many of my students’ lives. Two of the four schools that I teach at, Bansilalpet and Railway Girls, both decided to center their first big project, a photo story, around friendship. Each school has spent the last two weeks exploring the notion of friendship. What is a friend? How can you be a good friend? Why is friendship important?

It made me reflect on the role of friendship in my own life. Bouncing around from place to place, it can be difficult sometimes to make and keep friends. But already in Hyderabad I feel like I am falling into a really supportive and fun community. I have had an amazing month and am excited to continue learning about the city and meeting new wonderful and exciting people.