WON BY ONE

Solitude is becoming the new luxury, reshaping the way we eat, travel, unwind, and even where we live. Businesses, in turn, are giving them company by offering standalone experiences

- SUGANDHA MUKHERJEE

ON A RECENT Sunday afternoon, I booked a single ticket for Neeraj Ghaywan-directed Homebound at a PVR near my house. The theatre wasn’t full, but what struck me wasn’t the empty seats but it was how many people were there alone. A woman two rows ahead had a bucket of popcorn to herself, scrolling through her phone before the lights dimmed. A man, likely in his 40s, had settled into a recliner with a tray of cheesy nachos. No one looked twice. They didn’t at least.

Ten years ago, I might have hesitated to go to the plays solo, just as I would have felt self-conscious eating momos alone at Dolma Aunty’s stall in Lajpat Nagar. But today, that pause has evaporated. More of us are doing things alone, not out of necessity, but out of choice.

Take a friend of mine, Anjali Raj, 27, a freelance content writer. Earlier this year, she took her first solo trip to Jibhi in Himachal Pradesh. “The purpose was simple: to treat myself,’ she says. “I'd booked a hostel in Tirthan that got cancelled at the last minute, so I found this lovely treehouse in Jibhi. I had no fixed plans and that is become my mantra now: not to plan.”

She spent her days walking through the town, exploring nearby trails, and sharing bonfire evenings with others. “I was supposed to stay four days and ended up staying eight,” she laughs. “I'd always wanted to take a solo trip but was held back by vague fears. Now, after doing it, there’s this feeling of accomplishment, that even if something goes wrong, I can handle it.”

But she did not develop the taste of being alone suddenly. “Before Jibhi, I’d already started going to movies and events alone. It felt comforting. But after the trip, I feel liberated. When you do things on your own, using your own money to treat yourself, not by shopping or eating fancy food, but by experiencing something, you feel content. Not just happy, but content.”

That word, content, captures the spirit of this shift better than any statistic.