Agree to disagree, pal

Is it possible for friends to have a difference of opinion on important matters and still go on being friends? A few years back I would have said "Hell No" but now I will say "Yes, it is". In fact I would go so far as to say that every friendship worth counting on should have one or two such matters where friends have agreed to disagree. That makes the friendship strong.

I still remember when I had a big difference of opinion with one of my best friends. Kargil war was on and I came up with the idea of sending letters to soldiers fighting the war. I emailed all my friednds. Only 3 of them replied and one of my best friends wasn't among those. I thought she was too busy to check her emails so I called her up. When she said she had read my email I was surprised. I was so sure she will respond with a "Yes" that I asked her why she didn't. She replied that she is not for wars and sending letters to soldiers sounded like encouraging a war. So she was not with me on this one.

I was shocked to the core. It felt as if I didn't know this person at all. I tried to reason with her "Look, it's not as if I am fond of wars, but we aren't doing anything to stop wars from happening, right? So we might as well thank those who are risking their lives daily to protect us".

She was adamant however. She would not send any letter to the border. I felt hurt and betrayed.But fortunately I saw reason. I agreed to disagree. I sent my letter but didn't lose my friend. And since then I have believed that such disagreements go a long way to show how strong the friendship is.

Of course it goes without saying that such difference of opinion should not disturb basic values that either friend holds dear. If that's the case, then all bets are off.

On a lighter note, one of my best friends who is into software testing lives by the motto "All developers are fools". And I, coming from a software develoment background, believe with all my heart that "God need not have created testing teams". A difference of opinion on a very important matter but we continue to be the best of buddies! :-)

So next time you are mad at your friend for not seeing things the way you do, think for a minute and see if you can agree to disagree!