How these meetups are making more Indians find comfort in strangers

The most common piece of advice youngsters ndash mainly women ndash are given is ldquoDonrsquot talk to strangersrdquo But 20 and 30somethings are now breaking that ruleOn a Saturday evening in Bandra a few are huddling around a table at a bar They have just met but the chatter is already beginning to get animated thanks to cue cards conversation starters and a few games Nobody is here with a friend nor has anyone swiped right or left on some app Everyone walked in alone after simply registering via a digital form and revealing a few personality traitsThis is the new urban ritual the strangersrsquo meetWhether itrsquos Timeleft or Bunchh which host curated dinners and coffee meetups or communities like Kaunversations and Women In The Hood which organise activities the idea is simple You show up and you meet people you donrsquot knowShivangi Adani right and Pearl Brahmbhatt of BunchhItrsquos worth asking why is a generation raised online suddenly craving facetoface connection After all werenrsquot we the ones who built friendships on MSN Messenger and Orkut and spent our adolescence on FacebookPerhaps itrsquos precisely because of being constantly connected that we are now feeling disconnected A thousand followers donrsquot necessarily translate into friends whom you can call when you are feeling down The online world can start to feel transactional likes for likes comments for comments and DMs that fizzle outA strangersrsquo meet flips that script For one evening you put your phone down and talk to whoever is in front of you As Pearl Brahmbhatt cofounder of Bunchh puts it ldquoYou might have an active social life but you would still want to meet new people Sure itrsquos a good way to not feel lonely but itrsquos also a way to discover yourselfrdquoParticipants at Bhadass a recent rant session in Delhi by Women in the HoodItrsquos also important to note how tailored these gatherings are for an urban digitalfirst audience Unlike formal clubs that require membership or hobby groups that need longterm commitment strangersrsquo meets are more casual You sign up on Instagram or WhatsApp show up once and decide if itrsquos for youWhile book clubs or supper clubs offer structure these meets thrive on flexibility The goal is to discover people converse without pressurehellip and if all goes well leave as friendsMeeting new people is the core reason why Brahmbhatt started Bunchh in April this year along with her cofounder Shivangi Adani Itrsquos why Bunchh hosts a group of five to six people only Those who signup fill a form with details that help the Bunchh team group people based on their personality ldquoWe try to understand each person through their interests hobbies Every group is limited to five or six people at times we will go up to eight Itrsquos a mix of people no two people are from the same profession or industry and we add introverts and extroverts to the mixrdquo shares BrahmbhattOne simply has to choose between dinner and coffee and meet the group at the restaurant Once you are at the table games play a big role in getting the conversation going ldquoThere will be questions that range from basics and go on to encourage deeper conversation or small silly dares like lsquostare at the waiter for two minutesrsquo Itrsquos just a way to make the group bond betterrdquo explains BrahmbhattThe idea is similar with Timeleft Kaunversations and Women In The Hood But everyone has their own twistsKaunversations has three experiences hosted across cities in India all of which are designed around a feeling The Picnic Rave is centred on joy Dinner Klub mdash a womenonly experience mdash focuses on vulnerability and Nothing But Kaunversations is designed to foster belonging offering a more intimate oneonone experience To attend any of their events you have to be invited to join their community either by someone who is already a part of it or by writing to them on Instagram Founder Saloni Shah admits that she never set out to do strangersrsquo meets but instead to build a community Shah adds that each experience has specific card games that have been designed by her and her team and ensures that you will leave after talking to at least 10 peopleAfter three years Kaunversations has a diverse community of 25 to 40yearolds from different professions not more than two people are of the same profession in Ahmedabad Mumbai and Bengaluru Speaking about why people join in she says ldquoYou keep growing out of your social circle Most people come for some sort of growth dating or networking is not the aimrdquoSome might draw similarities to speed dating events or supper clubs that have mushroomed across cities But strangersrsquo meets are different Sneha Gajendra a fashion professor and content creator attended a Kaunversations Dinner Klub She points out that conversations at supper clubs are around general topics and people come with a friend ldquoThe first thing I noticed was that no one introduced themselves with their profession It was more of a social event I thought it would mostly include lonely people but these were people who were just looking to do something different There was no superficial conversationrdquo shares GajendraVeer Doshi a managing consultant too went for one such dinner via Timeleft ldquoI wanted to break the monotony meet people I wouldnrsquot meet otherwise You know Mumbai tends to get monotonousrdquo he says Doshi was excited to try this out and went in thinking that if he didnrsquot have a good time he would simply leave and never have to see anyone from the group again Timeleft resets the group each time Instead he left the dinner having made two new friendsDoshi says the best part about these meetups is that there is no quick judgement ldquoThese are not friendship or dating apps and you donrsquot get to show your personality beforehand You donrsquot even know who you are meeting So yoursquore coming with no intentions or expectationsrdquo he says adding that hersquos now looking forward to trying the app in different cities across the country You might hesitate meeting strangers because of that warning of lsquodonrsquot talkrsquo but thatrsquos exactly why you have to undergo a vetting process If you have no social media presence itrsquos tough to go to one of these as each of these communities asks for links to your Instagram or X formerly Twitter profile and especially your LinkedIn profile as one is likely not going to lie on a professional networking platformAlthough people with low intent to interact meaningfully rarely turn up ldquoItrsquos why preregistration is a must If you pay you end up showing up for yourself and othersrdquo says Sohini Mishra founder of Women in the HoodMishrarsquos womenonly community curates experiences for women to meet likeminded women So she organises Rant Sessions as well because ldquoWomen always feel no onersquos listeningrdquo This session allows them to rant about anything and everything mdash politics wet bathroom floors or their house help mdash without any judgementBut as these sessions often see vulnerability Mishra ensures that moderators are either therapists life coaches or experts in similar fields to ensure a safe comfortable environment ldquoThere are no repercussions when you are speaking to a group of strangersrdquo says Mishra adding that women come out of loneliness as wellThatrsquos another reason these events are resonating with Gen Z and millennials mdash loneliness An Ipsos survey on Gen Z and millennials from 2021 states that 43 per cent of urban Indians reported feeling lonely Experts pointed to a mix of reasons behind this including excessive phone usage fear of rejection constant stress and the anxiety of missing out The pandemic only deepened this with remote work cutting people off from organic social interaction and making everyday communication feel mechanical Mishra says that she has seen women coming back for sessions repeatedly ldquoIndian society has a lot of baggage Itrsquos not cool to say that you are lonely But if they have come to a meetup they have already crossed a major threshold Besides women tend to feel appreciated in the company of other womenrdquo If dating off apps once felt risky in 2025 itrsquos loneliness that feels riskier And that makes the idea of sitting across from strangers not just acceptable but refreshingWhat is happening here feels bigger than a fad As Gajendra puts it ldquoItrsquos probably going to be a revolution in how people interact and do social eventsrdquo