A good evening shouldn’t end with “We should do this again.”

If I’m spending an hour getting somewhere and an hour getting home, those two hours in between better be worth it.

That’s how I think about going out in Bangalore.

By the time the weekend comes around, I’ve already spent most of the week working. I want to see people, have a good conversation, feel like I did something with my time. But I also really like being at home.

So when I choose to go meet six strangers, I’m making a small bet with my weekend.

Will I enjoy this? Will I have anything to say? Will I spend half the evening wondering when it’s okay to leave?

I don’t think that’s an unreasonable thing to want some confidence about.

It became one of the questions I obsessed over while building SoMo. How do I make the experience consistently worth showing up for? Can every person leave feeling like they were heard, like someone was curious about them, like those two hours were time well spent?

But there’s another part that kept bothering me.

Say the evening goes really well.

You laugh. Someone tells a story you’re still thinking about on the way home. You meet a person you’d genuinely like to know better.

You exchange Instagram handles.

“We should do this again.”

And then what?

Apparently we’re supposed to take it from here

I think we expect a lot from that one good evening.

Someone has to follow up. Figure out what to say. Suggest another plan. Work out whether everyone was just being polite or actually wants to meet again.

You can have a lovely time with someone and still not feel comfortable texting them on a random Wednesday.

What would you even text?

“Hey, remember me from dinner? Want to become a regular part of each other’s lives?”

Obviously not. But that’s sort of the gap you’re trying to cross.

Instagram helps if they post something you can respond to. But if neither of you posts much, you’ve basically exchanged access to two inactive profiles.

You liked each other. There just isn’t much helping you continue.

And I didn’t want that to be where SoMo’s job ended.

Something small to pick up on

This is why the daily prompt matters to me as much as the table.

Every day, everyone gets the same question. You answer if you feel like it, read what other people said, and slowly get to know the community.

Before you meet someone, their answers give you a little sense of who they are.

After you meet them, those answers feel different.

Now you can imagine them saying it. You remember their sense of humour. Something they write connects to a story they told at the table.

Maybe they mention a film you love. Maybe their answer surprises you. Maybe you learn something that never came up when you met.

You have a reason to respond. And the next time you see them, you have something to ask about.

I like that this can happen in small amounts. Nobody needs to produce an interesting life update or organise another evening just to stay familiar.

One question a day feels manageable. And because everyone gets the same one, there’s a shared context. You’re seeing different sides of people through something you’ve thought about yourself.

Familiar enough to meet again

I keep coming back to how much easier it is to make a plan when someone already feels familiar.

The first meeting takes effort. You’re deciding whether to show up, wondering who will be there, preparing to introduce yourself.

I want the next one to feel easier.

You recognise a few faces. You remember something about them. There’s a conversation you’d like to continue.

And if they live nearby, meeting again might actually happen. In Bangalore, that part is doing a lot of work.

That’s the whole idea I’m trying to build towards with SoMo. Discover people around you. Have a good experience together. Keep learning little things about each other. Find a reason to meet again.

I want people to leave a table feeling glad they came.

But a few weeks later, I’d love for someone they met there to feel familiar enough that they can send a much simpler message.

“Coffee this weekend?”

Tarun Sasikumar is the founder of somo club.