The Long View Letters

Issue 09 (August 09, 2026)

On Friendship

Last Sunday, the 2nd of August, was Friendship Day.

I began giving friendship serious thought as an 11-year-old when my mother borrowed a copy of Sun Signs and handed it to me. Goodman harped on how central friendship was to the Aquarius experience (even though she said they chase quantity over quality). And I internalized it.
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You can imagine how it felt to idealize friendships through the frequent moves of childhood, through the shock of diverging life paths and temperaments, through pandemics, and now the oft-named, rarely addressed, loneliness epidemic.

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If dating sites and billboards are to be believed, this loneliness is strictly about singlehood and nuclear families. But it is just as much about our friendships (17% of adults today say they have no close friends at all. That figure was 12% in 2021 and just 3% in 1990). In this context, I might liken social media (with its illusion of infinite feeds and unlimited connections) to bread for birds: it creates volume without nutrition, leaving our sated brains to starve.

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So, what if we widened the lens beyond our own species?

Last year, when the judiciary was debating the status of Indian streeties, and the media was whipping the public into a frenzy, I wrote an essay considering the question. It was published on Plott Hound Magazine. In its own way, the essay became an act of resistance. And an ode to dear hearts I have the privilege of loving.

​The Keys to Heaven's Gates​
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(Side note: If you write about animals, I highly encourage you to submit your stories, poems, or essays to Plott Hound. The submission and editing process was a breeze, and it really is a lovely little magazine.)
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Hope you enjoy reading it. I would love to hear your thoughts!
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Best,

Skendha
​The Long View Letters

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