Changing values of friendship

One of the most over used word in English, a word that's probably applied for the maximum no of people in this world is 'Friend'.We talk about evolution, well this word has certainly passed the test of Natural Selection seeing the way this word has evolved with the changing times.
Rite from the days of Mahabharat, when a guy named Karn fought till his last breath for his friend, n that too aginst his own brothers, to the days of the Dark Ages when Joseph II chopped of his own head for his friend Alfred ,fulfilling his last wish to see how his friend's skull looks like in isolation, friendship had a much deeper meaning than what actually the dictionary suggests.
But this is the 21st century, the "modern" era so as to speak.In this age there is a special 'tadka' attached to this word increasing the complexity of the term.Friendship now, has lost the basic virtue over which the term was coined, selflessness.And not only has it lost this term, but it has been replaced by something which is quite contrary to the original.In the era in which everything comes with a price tag and certain limitation, the term friendship certainly hasn't been immune.You use a guy for your amusement, treat him well at times, ask for advice when your schedule permits , but as soon as a time comes when you have to compromise your own interest for him, bang.. end of the sequence.Today, even George Bush and Tony Blair are friends, or for that matter India and Pakistan. Tell me something sir, how many times has the term mother been used for describing diplomatic relationship between countries or people, so who has given them the right to derrogate the term 'friend' by using it in contexts like these.Now, in a way thats not their fault. The culprit lies within us.How many times has it happened to us that until and unless he says something , we cant judge what he is feeling.Why do we need to go lower when the 'eyes' should speak and understand. How many times has it hapenned that we sit in our room and doing nothing else but to think which act of mine can bring some happiness to him.This was not the way it used to.
Mind you , all these feelings do come , when you have a prefix attached to the word friend.Yes you have guessed it absoloutely correctly. Those prefixes are the most famous common nowns known to man."girl" and "boy".Its a pity that we people today have narrowed our mind to an extent where our whole thought process is jeopardised by the thought of opposite sex.
But may be thats the need of modern era.To make your work easier, to have a co-ordinated environment, meanings have to be modified, and the sacrificing nature that this relationship has, Friendship has to be the first one to be crucified.