Generation fearless

For generation raised on constant change, true fear lies in loneliness, anxiety, among others

- Tejashee Kashyap

When Riya* (name changed on request), 27, went through an unexpected breakup recently, she found herself confronting a fear—the prospect of starting over, again.

“I mean, I’m at an age where everyone around me seems to be settling down, or moving in with someone,” she says. “And here I am, having to go back into the exhausting loop of dating, small talk, and learning someone from scratch. That's definitely not a task I’m looking forward to.” Riya, who works at a publishing house in Delhi, had been seeing someone for a few months. It wasn't particularly serious then, but it felt steady—until, one random morning, he texted to say he didn't see things moving forward. There was no explanation, no reason stated—just a quiet, abrupt ending. “It’s the sinking feeling of realising you were wrong about someone and now having to start all over again,” she says softly. “Sometimes I wonder if finding your person even works anymore. It’s scary.”

Fear has changed its face. For many younger people today, it doesn't arrive with a scream—it hums quietly, persistently, beneath daily life. It’s the fear of waking up to bad news you can't switch off. The fear of being left out. The fear of working endlessly just to stay afloat. We've become desensitised to fictional horror because real life has grown more frightening than any movie ever could.