making-friends
Why Making Friends After College Feels Impossible in India
In college, friendship was ambient. You didn't have to try. Two years into your job, you've realized nothing assembles itself anymore.
Prakhyat Verma
pune
Pune Weekend Loneliness: Everyone Went Home Except You
Friday evening, the office empties out fast. By Saturday morning, half your building has gone home. You're one of the ones who stayed.
hyderabad
Living Alone in Hyderabad at 23 and Eating Every Meal by Yourself
You've gotten good at cooking for one. You've optimized loneliness into a system, and there's something quietly sad about how good you've become at it.
relocation
New City, New Job, Zero Friends: The First 90 Days Nobody Prepares You For
Day one, you were nervous about finding the office. Day ninety, you're professionally settled and completely friendless in the city you now call home.
mumbai
Moving to Mumbai Alone: The Loneliness Nobody Warned You About
Everyone told you about the commute and the rent. Nobody told you about the specific loneliness of a city moving too fast to ever stop and include you.
indian-parents
Why Your Parents' Love Feels Like Control
Your mother calls three times before noon. Not because anything's wrong, just to check. Each call comes from love, and by the third one you feel a familiar tightness.
mental-health-india
The Mental Health Conversation India Refuses to Have
Your uncle mentioned his heart surgery to three relatives with pride. Nobody mentioned your aunt's eight months barely leaving her room. That conversation doesn't happen.
indian-culture
Why We Say "I'm Fine Yaar" When We're Falling Apart
"Kya hua, tu theek hai?" your friend asks. "Haan yaar, I'm fine," you say, already reaching for your phone. You weren't fine. You haven't been in three weeks.
joint-family
Living in a Joint Family and Still Feeling Completely Alone
The house never gets quiet. Eleven people under one roof, and you go to sleep most nights feeling like nobody in the house actually knows you.
arranged-marriage
Arranged Marriage Pressure at 25: When Your Parents' Timeline Isn't Yours
Your mother brought it up again at dinner, sandwiched between your project deadline and the neighbor's daughter's engagement. In her timeline, you're already behind.
indian-men
Why Indian Men Don't Talk About Their Feelings
Your father has never once told you he was scared. He handled it. He always handled it. Now you're doing the exact same thing, and you didn't even choose to.
emotional-exhaustion
Emotionally Drained but Can't Rest — The Exhaustion Nobody Sees
You cleared your entire Saturday. Slept in, made tea, sat down to rest. Four hours later you're still tired, and you don't know why the rest didn't work.