Building friendships around shared interests
This feature explores the concept of 'buddy' relationships formed through shared interests rather than deep personal history. It highlights how short-term, activity-based connections provide social value in modern, busy lifestyles.
Why it matters
It reflects evolving social dynamics and the changing nature of human connection in urban environments.
Not every friendship needs to be built on late-night conversations or decades of shared history. Sometimes, all it takes is one shared interest. You meet because you enjoy the same thing, spend a couple of hours doing it together and head back to your lives.
We do not really have a name for these relationships beyond “buddy.” Yet most of us have one.
Take Daniel K, a businessman, who met his coffee buddy at a coffee appreciation workshop in Bengaluru in 2024.
“Since we were both obsessed with coffee as a bean, we started exchanging notes on what to try,” says Daniel. “Then we realised we were both from Hyderabad. We swapped numbers and became coffee buddies. One of us discovers a new café or roast, we meet, taste it together and head home. We chat about other things too, but coffee is usually the reason we meet.”
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