THE PEOPLE BEHIND INDIA'S LONELINESS ECONOMY

A handful of people are quietly coming up with solutions to help urban Indians feel less lonely

- Radhika P. Nair [e-mail]

na Saturday afternoon last August, 40-year-old Trisha Mukherjee stood outside a stranger's apartment in Bengaluru's Yemalur neighbourhood, wondering if she had made a mistake. Inside were II strangers she was about to meet. Would it be an awkward, embarrassing experience? The question had bounced around endlessly in her head through the hour-long auto ride from her home in Hulimavu. Finally, she rang the doorbell.

Mukherjee, a human resources professional with a women-centric nonprofit, had spent much of her adult life in Delhi. When her banker husband relocated to Bengaluru in 2024, she moved with him, along with their 1-year-old son, her mother-in-law and their dog. Her employer offered her a work-fromhome arrangement, allowing her to continue in a role she had grown into over nearly two decades. Professionally, things were stable. Socially, they were not.

"My friends, my family, my entire ecosystem was back in Delhi," she said. "In Bengaluru, I was at home all day. Work conversations were agenda-driven and online. Outside of family, there was no real interaction."

Scrolling through social media one weekend, Mukherjee came across Perspectives, a Bengaluru-based initiative that organizes small, curated, in-person meetups of people seeking a real-world connection. She spoke to the founders and joined a WhatsApp group after a short screening call. The groups were capped at under 12 people. Participants paid to attend, ensuring that everyone in the room had opted in with intent.

The meetup in Yemalur, held in a private home, unfolded over pasta, avocado salad and nachos, with participants guided through structured discussions and smaller breakout conversations.

"I didn't feel like an outsider," said Mukherjee. "People listened. There was respect."

She has since attended three more meetups. "For those three or four hours, I can be myself," she said.

STRANGER MEETUPS, EVERYWHERE