I am 24 years old and working in the IT industry. Since college, I have avoided discussing anything even indirectly related to politics with my family, relatives and friends (“After 12 years of Modi, I’m not sure if my decades-long friendships can survive politics”).

I found comfort in realising that I am not alone in feeling this way. At the same time, it also brought to the surface a fear that I now find myself hesitant even to meet new people because I worry that a casual conversation might unexpectedly turn political, putting me in an uncomfortable situation.

I keep telling myself that things will improve with time, but as the future gradually becomes the present, I find my hope growing dimmer. Thank you for sharing your experience with the viewers.

I wish Scroll would publish some articles on such topics which have some scholarly analysis and also some tips how to handle this. Thanks again for making me feel seen, and I appreciate your willingness to articulate something that many of us struggle to express. – Aryan Patel

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The author has perfectly encapsulated a facet of modern-day friendships that is becoming worrying. He writes: “Perhaps democracies decay because ordinary, decent people keep finding reasons to excuse it.” There is no...

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