BENGALURU: When entrepreneur Sam Rahman realised that he is missing out on quality relationships, he decided to take part in different meet-ups to make friends. But he noticed that members in most groups come for romantic or sexual relationships. Some members come with their best buddies and just interact with themselves.
“Majority of the people are not interested in making new, close friends. Most of them were just looking for hangout buddies, romantic interests and hookups. I felt very uncomfortable at every meet-up, as I could not have good conversations,” says Sam. He then did some research and found that romantic relationships could affect the working of a group, as they tend to unconsciously control the brain to act illogically, which can affect a group negatively. So he decided to start a group, Rexircle, focusing on platonic, a-romantic relationships.
Sam says he wanted a name that sounded like ‘social circle’. Initially, I chose ‘Xircle’. Since the domain was not available, I had to change it. Then later, I changed it to ‘rexircle’ as it sounds better and generates positive vibes similar to ‘recycle’ ‘re-circling’, etc.
He started two months ago, there are ten members in the group. “This is actually an experimental project based on my understanding of life and relationships. This community is in its initial stages. I will organise free meet-ups and invite people there to join my Facebook group,” he says. The group is open to all, irrespective of gender, sexual orientation and status of their relationship. But currently, the group is limited to people above 25 years of age, as they are financially stable and are looking for more meaningful relationships in life. “Rexircle is not against dating. Members are free to find dating interests from connections with other members, but not from the group,” he clarifies. Once a member attends a weekly meet-up, he/she can register for membership with the Facebook group for a fee of `3,000 a year.
Becoming a member
A form will be sent to people who are looking for membership with questionnaire.
Answers will be reviewed and suitable candidates are selected for membership.
Selected members will be notified about an upcoming meetup in the city.
After the meetup they will be asked to make payment for the annual membership.
Their membership is approved and will be added to the group, after they make payment.
New members will be notified about their first meetup by email.
Group rules
Every meet-up will have odd number of attendees to avoid members pairing up and making subgroups.
For meetups, come prepared to listen more and talk less
Don’t talk or socialise with non group members at the venue except venue staffs.
Don’t make subgroups and isolate other members on meet-ups
Maintain friendly vibe during meetups