CHENNAI: There are plenty of things to do in Chennai, but finding someone to do them with can be harder. That is the gap Thirdspace, a community founded by Loshini Gnanasekar, hopes to fill. With more than 150 events and over 3,000 participants so far, it brings people together through sports, movie nights, food, conversations, trips and other shared experiences.

“I don’t think Chennai lacks things to do. There are plenty of places to eat, play, travel and spend time. What I felt was missing was someone to do those things with,” says Loshini. For many adults, she observes, making new friends can become surprisingly difficult. “You may know a lot of people online, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have someone to call on a Saturday evening.”

Thirdspace offers people a reason to step out and meet others without the pressure of having to strike up a conversation from scratch. Its activities range from badminton, cricket, pickleball and volleyball to supper clubs, movie evenings, board games, karaoke, trips and workshops.

“I want the activity to give people a natural reason to interact,” Loshini says. For her, an event’s success goes beyond whether participants enjoyed themselves. “It’s when someone leaves knowing at least one person they didn’t know when they walked in.”

The activities are designed to make those first interactions easier. At sports sessions, participants are shuffled into teams, while movie nights bring people together over a film and a potluck.

“You can’t put a group of strangers together and expect them to figure it out themselves,” says Loshini. “Coming alone should never mean being alone at a Thirdspace event.”

Movies, in particular, offer an easy starting point for conversation. “The movie brings people together, but the conversation is really the point,” she says, adding that differing opinions often make discussions more interesting.

At a recent Modha Rathri movie night and potluck, Abhinaya found herself part of conversations about the framing of scenes, character arcs and different interpretations of the film. For her, such exchanges can make it easier to find common ground with people she has just met.

“When you resonate with somebody, it is very easy to connect,” she says.

For Abhinaya, the appeal also lies in the freedom to be herself. “I look for that space where you can just be yourself. There’s not much pressure to be someone in some particular way,” she says.

Karthick Aasaithambi, who attended the same movie night, found that watching a film together gave participants a shared starting point. The screening, followed by the potluck and discussion, allowed people to exchange opinions and discover common interests without having to initiate conversations with strangers.

Anisha Janet experienced something similar at a badminton gathering. Playing alongside people she had not met before gave her an easy way to interact, with conversations developing naturally during the game. The shared activity made meeting new people feel less awkward.

Loshini believes Thirdspace is responding not necessarily to loneliness, but to social disconnection. “As adults, we don’t naturally meet new people the way we did in school or college,” she says. “Sometimes people aren’t necessarily lonely. They just want to do something different and don’t have anyone to do it with.”

The most rewarding moments, she says, are when people return and begin forming friendships beyond the events. She recalls celebrating the birthday of a participant who had initially arrived as a stranger, with people she had met through Thirdspace turning up for the occasion.

“That’s when you realise you’re no longer just organising an event. Something has continued after the event ended,” Loshini concludes.