An alarming trend these days, especially in Western countries, is the decline in close friendships. An article in Harvard Business Review calls it the ‘friendship recession,‘ noting that the share of Americans who say ‘I have no close friends‘ has risen fourfold since 1990 to 12%. Stanford University offers several courses on friendship.
According to an 80-year Harvard study, the key to true happiness and health lies in close relationships. These close relationships are not necessarily with family members; very often, the closeness we feel toward a non-family member is far more nourishing than that with a relative. Perhaps it is because, as a third party, a friend will have a wider picture of your personality and circumstances, and is less judgmental and/or demanding, with no inhibition/insecurity about opening up. So I decided to call my “That non-family friend,” who fits everything mentioned so far in the study.
It’s easy to say that, because of your professional endeavours and weekend commitments with your family, we had little time to socialise. I noticed, in my case, too, that after my apartment programs, where I got to sing and dance, I didn’t have the chance to venture out and make the most of my time with my friends. My friend answered the call enthusiastically and was keen to catch up. I said I would be there by 12.15 PM. After multiple cancellations from the Uber guys, I finally got a kind soul who dropped me at 12.26 PM. I saw him from a distance, wearing a light-green T-shirt and reading. That is how I met him in a coffee shop 7 years ago, and ever since, our relationship has grown from a professional relationship to a personal friendship. He used to share a lot of his learning when we met. He introduced me to the world of Feynman, Sagan, and others.
I shook hands, but he got up and hugged me. That was a great embrace that gave me a warm glow. We switched places from a table and chair to a two-piece sofa with a round table. I said, “It’s been ages since we last met.” He nodded and asked me, “How has it been with work and family ?”
I tried to pack all I remembered in a few sentences. I ordered a Cafe Latte for a change from Black coffee, and he went with Chamomile Tea. Our conversations started with the well-being of families, then moved to workplace adventures, and finally to topics we always pick up along the way. This time, it was about cryptocurrency and AI. Over the next hour, he gave me a master class on Crypto, and I started taking notes on my new, remarkable digital note-taking device. I need to brush up on some of these notes sooner. I made him test my new device as well. He challenged me with a formula which I need to crack in the next few days. Day one of 2026 will be remembered for having that engaging discussion with my friend, who continues to engage me completely, and I couldn’t find a better message for the year.
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