PLAYING CUPID

New-age relationship and dating coaches are helping Young Indians overcome their inhibitions, teaching them how to express themselves freely, the importance of sensitivity and how to tackle their inner demons to have healthy friendships

- SONALI ACHARJEE

Career anxiety doesn’t wither them, peer pressure doesn’t pull them down, nor does the punishing workload in the first years of their professional lives burn them out. Instead, members of the Gen Z are most distressed by the vagaries and brutal confusion of romantic relationships. Anushka Bhushan, 20, from Bengaluru, a graphic design intern, says first dates are more stressful than the first day of work, and break-ups throw her into a tailspin of despair darker than when she has been fired. This is because work has clearly defined rules and goals but romance, says the Kolkata-born girl who uses the dating app Bumble, has a built-in grey area seething with hidden and frustrated expectations. “Someone says they are looking for a relationship online; offline, they just want to have sex. Or one minute they speak of women empowerment, the next minute they’ll be pushing to pay the bill. Then there are men who are always on the edge, as if any second now I’ll slap a sexual harassment charge against them,” laments Bhushan. In October 2022, a study by NeilsenIQ noted that while stress at work was the highest for millennials, Gen Z attributed relationships and break-ups to be the most stressful thing in their lives. Tik Tok and Instagram are awash with failed dating stories. Things are so serious that some countries have taken matters into their own hands—New Zealand has invested $4 billion to help teenagers recover from debilitating break-ups. Luckily, for the Gen Z in India, heartache and brooding need not take the high road to depression—there is assistance in the shape of the modern-day dating coach.