I didn’t start Innerchild as a business.
I started it as a way to heal.
Like many adults, there came a point in my life when I realised that somewhere along the way, I had slowly drifted away from the things that once made me feel alive. As children, we laugh easily, we play freely, we create without fear or judgement. But as we grow older, life becomes heavier. Responsibilities grow. Expectations grow. And without even noticing, the child inside us slowly becomes quieter.
Along with that, something else quietly grows in some, if not many, of our lives. Loneliness.
Even when we are surrounded by people, many of us still feel disconnected. I’ve always been an introvert myself, comfortable in my own space. But over time I realised something important: as human beings, we are not built to live life alone. We are built to share experiences, laughter, ideas, and moments with others.
Innerchild started as my way of finding that connection again, a personal journey to reconnect with that lost part of myself.
At first it was simple. Playing sports and board games. Hiking mountains. Racing engines. Running marathons. Even trying to dance with two left feet. And then I started creating spaces for laughter. Sitting with people and having real conversations. And slowly I began to notice something beautiful: when adults are given permission to play again, something soft inside them begins to come back to life.
People open up.
Strangers become friends.
The world feels lighter again.
And I realised I wasn’t the only one who needed this.
So many of us are carrying the weight of adulthood while quietly missing the freedom we once had as children.
That realisation slowly grew into something bigger.
But Innerchild didn’t begin in a big space. It began in our own home.
Friends would come over. Games would come out on our dining tables and even on our floors. Conversations would stretch late into the night and sometimes until sunrise. People laughed, connected, shared ideas, and slowly we realised something special was happening. What started as a small personal healing journey was becoming something that others were finding comfort in too.
What began in our home slowly grew over the next couple of years, and eventually led us to create a dedicated space for it: Cantos Social House.
And now, after a couple of years, Candy and I have built Cantos with everything we had. Our time, our energy, our savings, and an enormous amount of belief. It wasn’t the safe decision. It wasn’t the easy path. But it felt like something the world truly needed. Something where we could do our part in making the world a better and a kinder place.
And we didn’t want to build just another cafe in Pondy to do that.
Cantos was meant to be something different. A true third space.
Not home. Not work.
But a place in between where people can simply exist, connect, and belong without the pressure to buy something.
A place where you can sit with strangers and end the night with new friends.
Where you can laugh over a board game like you’re ten years old again.
Where you can create art without worrying if it’s perfect.
Where conversations feel real and time slows down.
A place where loneliness slowly fades, not because someone fixes it for you, but because you suddenly find yourself surrounded by people who are simply happy to share the moment with you.
In the last month, we quietly opened our doors for a soft launch at Cantos.
Some of our closest friends and members of the Innerchild community came in and experienced the space with us. Playing board games, creating art, sharing conversations, and simply being present with one another.
It was a small glimpse of what this space could become.
But the truth is, we want to do so much more.
Innerchild has already begun growing in Pondicherry into many different communities and clubs. Badminton, Cricket, Football, Pickleball, Fine Arts, Chess, Reading, Anime, Cosmic Enthusiasts, and many more.
Each of these communities exists because someone showed up with a passion and said,
“Let’s do this together.”
And that’s the beautiful thing about Innerchild.
It was never meant to be a one-person show.
It is a group of people coming together with a shared belief that life becomes richer when we create spaces for play, curiosity, creativity, and connection.
As more people join us, more communities are born.
More clubs grow.
More friendships begin.
And we hope to create many more as more people come forward to share their passions and build communities together.
But dreams like this cannot grow alone.
We need your support to help take this dream to the level we truly believe it can become.
Because we are not here to simply market a space.
We are here to give you an experience you may not have had before.
Something that makes you laugh freely.
Something that makes you connect deeply.
Something that makes you feel lighter when you leave than when you arrived.
Something that makes you happy from the inside.
Maybe one evening soon you might find yourself walking through our doors, sitting down at a table with a board game, and laughing with people who were strangers just an hour ago.
So if you’ve never had the chance to visit Cantos Social House yet, we would love to invite you.
Come experience what we have built.
Your first hour of board games is on us. If you feel like supporting the space after experiencing it, you are welcome to contribute, but there is absolutely no expectation.
This isn’t a promotion or a marketing gimmick.
It’s simply an invitation we want to give to everyone.
An invitation to step in.
To sit down.
To play.
To connect.
Because the dream of Innerchild was never just to build a place.
It was to build a feeling.
A place where people walk in as strangers and walk out a little lighter.
A place where the child inside you gets to breathe again.
A place where, even for a moment, you remember what it feels like to simply be happy.
And if that happens, even once, then everything we poured into this dream will have been worth it.
With gratitude,
Anton
Founder, Innerchild Community
Cantos Social House