How People Became Friends Through Facebook Comments, Cancer Loss, & Brain Surgery Recovery

Featured image credits: Unnati Mishra and Instagram @cubbonpaints

Friendships are the quiet anchors in our lives, which often offer comfort in sorrow, celebrate our joy, and provide companionship through the everyday. While some bonds form effortlessly over a cup of coffee or dancing at clubs, others are nurtured over time, through shared experiences and deep emotions.

And then come the ones formed in unexpected places — like on a stage, behind a sketchbook, through music, or in the glow of a computer screen, as one gets immersed in digital art.

This Friendship Day, The Better India spoke to people whose connections blossomed through grief, creativity, and collaboration. Here's what they have to say about the friendships that shaped their lives.

Designing bonds: How art and dance shaped Zehra’s friendships

For 27-year-old Zehra Ali from Lucknow — a dancer, freelance designer, and founder of Graphics By Chance — friendships have bloomed through shared passions for graphic design and dance, each playing a vital role in shaping her creative journey.

“I met Rishi Sheth through Instagram,” Zehra shares. “He’s also a graphic designer and has even worked on posters for artists like Piyush Mishra ji’s Ballimaran tour. It was random — I was just scrolling through the 'Gram, came across his profile, and hit the follow button. He followed me back, and soon we were exchanging thoughts and appreciating each other’s work.”

That was back in 2023. Two years later, the two have bonded over conversations around design and architecture. From Bauhaus minimalism, type layering, and brutalist grids, they discuss everything, often diving deep into how form and function can coexist creatively. Rishi is now planning a visit to Lucknow, a trip Zehra is excitedly looking forward to hosting.

Zehra also shares another cherished friendship formed through her love for dance. With 21.3K followers on her dance page, where she grooves to nostalgic 2000s Bollywood hits, Zehra recalls her school days, when she was part of the cultural dance team.

“That’s where I met Saumya Verma, a fellow dancer and dear friend I truly admire,” she says. “Saumya is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer and recently graduated from Bhatkhande Academy. Though our styles are poles apart, we used to choreograph and learn from each other. Even now, we often attend dance workshops together. That friendship has stayed with me through the years.”

Some friendships, Zehra says, don’t just support your passions — they help you grow into them.

From yoga mats to mic checks: This duo's friendship sparked a podcast

For Prachi Saxena and Shikha Pandey — two wellness professionals in their 40s — an unexpected adult friendship began in the most modern way: over a Facebook comment thread five years ago!

“Even though our friendship began with a few casual exchanges, we both intuitively felt there was more to it,” shares Prachi, a relationship therapist and co-founder of The Emotional Wellness Initiatives.

She soon discovered that Shikha was a holistic yoga coach. At the time, Prachi had been trying to build a consistent yoga practice, especially after a diabetes scare.

“I reached out, and we started meeting thrice a week for yoga. But slowly, those sessions turned into catch-ups, confession corners, and sometimes even full-blown venting sessions. We didn’t even realise when it stopped being about just yoga,” she laughs.

What began as structured wellness sessions evolved into something deeper. The duo found themselves relying on each other for advice, support, and perspective. They were connecting as women, as professionals in similar fields, and as people unafraid to grow and be vulnerable together.

About ten months ago, their conversations took a more public turn. They launched a podcast together called The Grown Up Girls — a light-hearted yet meaningful show that reflects the heart of their friendship.

“It’s about two women navigating life, learning from it, and choosing connection over comparison,” Shikha shares.

Where adult friendships are often seen as complicated, these two are breaking all the notions by building a safe space where they find complete acceptance and love.

A bond that began on a badminton court

For Unnati Mishra, a PR professional working in Delhi, friendships don’t always start with deep conversations or grand gestures. Sometimes, they begin on a badminton court!

“It was a regular games period back in class 4,” Unnati recalls. “I was mid-match when my opponent changed, and that’s when I met Devanshi.” What followed was an unexpected connection over a shared love for the sport — and a friendship that would quietly grow into something lifelong.

Despite being in different sections at school, the two began playing together every games period. Slowly, lunch breaks followed. “I used to like her tiffin more than mine,” Unnati adds. “We’d end up swapping lunch almost every day.”

Their bond only deepened when they landed in the same class in 6th grade. “We made a deal to sit in the middle row because she liked the front, and I liked the back. So we compromised.”

Unnati describes herself as the mischief-maker of the duo. Today, the two live in different cities and lead different lives, but some things haven’t changed. “She’s still my go-to person when life gets confusing,” Unnati says. “Time and distance haven’t touched the bond. If anything, it’s stronger now.”

From badminton games to life advice, from shared lunches to shared emotional bandwidth, Devanshi remains Unnati’s anchor.

Ambarish’s art circle is now a haven for friends

After a brain haemorrhage left him nearly paralysed, Ambarish Sivasubramanian turned to art for healing. What began as a solitary sketching session in Cubbon Park has since grown into Cubbonpaints — a community-led art circle in Bengaluru that meets every Saturday morning, bringing people together to paint and share a creative space.

In 2022, Bengaluru-based artist Ambarish faced a life-altering brain injury. The surgery saved his life, but the isolation and depression that followed left him feeling invisible. “I didn’t want to leave the house. It felt like I was disappearing,” he shares.

Seven months later, a quiet instinct nudged him outdoors to Cubbon Park, sketchbook in hand. “Just 20 minutes of painting under a tree. That’s how it started.” Slowly, others joined him. By May 2023, Cubbonpaints had taken root.

From plein air painting and watercolours to journalling and casual conversation, Cubbonpaints became a space where people — kids, students, retirees — could show up and simply be. “People are tired of performance-driven spaces,” Ambarish says. “They want something real, something gentle and non-competitive.”

Today, with over 100 editions and a second-anniversary exhibition held in June 2025, Cubbonpaints is run by a team of six friends: Arjun Rao, Varalakshmi, Manoj Vijay Kumar, and Arunava Basak — all found through the community.

Ambarish mentions two more names: Sanjana, who designed Cubbonpaints’ first logo, and Rohith, who designed the current one that’s deeply loved.

A painter inspired by Impressionism, Fauvism, and Symbolic Surrealism, Ambarish says the circle has become a reflection of his healing. “Cubbonpaints gave me room to breathe. Now, it gives others the same. And it’s beautiful to see people bond over painting and art.”

When childhood buddies navigated grief, distance, and life together

Punita Dadhich, a 25-year-old journalist from Ahmedabad, was in fourth grade when she met Merlin and Manisha — two girls from her neighbourhood who would go on to become her closest friends.

They grew up together, sharing tiffins, cycling through the same lanes, and slowly, their lives began to intertwine beyond just childhood fun. But it was in life’s toughest chapters that their bond truly deepened.

In class 10, Manisha lost her mother to cancer. “It was a devastating time,” Punita shares. “We were already like sisters by then, but after Aunty passed away, that bond only grew stronger. We made it a point to be there for lunch breaks, for festivals, for everything.”

That support continued through every milestone. When Manisha decided to marry the love of her life despite facing resistance from her family, Punita and Merlin stood by her side, never once doubting her choice. “We just knew she was taking the right step. We got her married, and we were proud to do it,” she says.

Now, years later, life has taken them in different directions. Merlin lives in Kerala. Manisha works and lives in the US with her partner. But the friendship still shows up in unexpected ways. “They surprised me at my office last December,” Punita shares. “I hadn’t seen them in so long. It felt like coming home.”

For her, what they share isn’t just about being together in happy times. Instead, it’s the way they held space for each other in grief, in transitions, and in everyday moments that make life what it is.

Whether sparked by art in a park, a Facebook comment, or a shared lunch in school, these friendships remind us that the most meaningful bonds often begin in the ordinary. As we grow older, it’s not the loud declarations, but the soft, steady presence of a friend that often makes all the difference.