The basis of relationship is love. And love is about acceptance rather than wanting to change the one whom we love. Yet it is also true that we invariably change (to whatever extent) in the image of the person we love. And that is where the difficulty and the danger lies. For there is something in us which can be called as our core. It is our ‘faith and will to be’. It is the most sacred element and needs to be guarded as the most precious treasure.
Opinions do change because of other’s influence. The question is whose and what kind of influence. That is why it is important to become an individual who has formed his views after much thought, reflection and deliberation. It is also therefore important to be careful of one’s friends and the company one keeps lest one sells the soul for a pot of porridge, as the story goes in the Bible.
Affectionately,
Alok Da