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 new 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 wro

See Full Page