My small-town college friend is clingy

I want to help him shed his inhibitions and open up to the world but he seems in his own world and doesn't seem to realise that it's important to feel normal in a big city like ours. The only reason I feel responsible for him because I'm his first and only trusted friend. He's good in studies but I don't want him to be clingy either. How do I make him more confident?
- Musa

Illustration/ Amit Bandre

Dear Musa,
I am glad that at least you are trying and doing your bit to make him part of the circle. You need to give him time as he will gain confidence only after he feels comfortable in his surrounding. He may be afraid that the others might ridicule him so he is wary of being around with such people. As he has realised that you are helping him, he turns to you for support. But you find him clingy! Explain to him that you are trying to aid him and be part of the scheme of things. He needs to be thick skinned and ignore what people say because only then can he hope to be part of things.u00a0