Bob and Samantha were nice friends. They met in college through a common friend and instantly struck off a great rapport. They would often hang out with a group of buddies and had a great time together. A few months before departing from college, Samantha dropped some hints which made Bob wonder whether she was harboring any special feelings for him. But it never occurred to Bob that he could ever get romantically involved with her. Eventually, it so happened, that Tim, a childhood friend of Samantha, proposed her. Samantha was confused and asked Tim to give her three days so as to make up her mind. As Bob heard about this, he remained silent.

Finally Samantha made up her mind to accept Tims offer. In the next morning she got dressed to meet Tim. All of a sudden the doorbell rang and she received a flower bouquet delivered in her name. It has a note attached to it saying Samantha-I am yours- Bob.

Well, that was a nice romantic love story. Thankfully, Bob had realized in time that Samantha was more than just a friend. I guess that many of us have encountered a similar situation at some point of life. We all know that there is a difference between friendship and love, but when it comes to friendship with a person of opposite gender, we fail to understand when we start developing a soft corner for that person. Instead of just enjoying her company we start craving for it.

Any romantic relationship undergoes three stages. The first stage is the stage of infatuation. The other person impresses you. Her looks, her personality pleases you and you desire to spend time with her. You desire to know her. Gradually you enter in the second stage, when you are really mad about her and she becomes a part of your life without whom your life seems to be unnatural and gloomy. And ultimately you can not live without her and surrender yourself completely to love.

As I was saying, when friendship develops between a man and a woman, sometimes, there is a fragrance of attraction. And this attraction develops even if we are unaware of it and even before we realize it culminates into deep love.

You may ask me Do you mean to say that we can never have female friends? or Does having a female friend mean we are cheating our wives? No of course not. But it is essential for us to differentiate between friendship and infatuation.

Now you may ask me, how to do that? All I can suggest is that a friendship is an understanding, a rapport and of course one can not deny that there has to be a mutual liking and trust for a friendship to sustain.

These are also some essential component for love. But in love there is one more important aspect which is sacrifice. Our love becomes complete when we can sacrifice everything for him/her. This is what separates love from friendship and all other emotions of life. So we conclude that friendship can be a beginning of love, but it is not purely love. A true friendship can bring a smile at your face, but a true love can bring tears in your eyes.

As someone said, sometimes a tear is more precious than a smile, because smiles are for everyone, but a tear is only for someone special.