Creative Director Muskan Bajjaj has spent years understanding what moves people not just as viewers but as human beings. Having worked on a diverse range of successful television shows across leading networks, including Star Plus, Zee TV, Colors TV, and Sony, she has helped bring to life stories of love, loss, ambition, relationships, and resilience. Drawing from her experiences in an industry built on human emotions and interpersonal dynamics, Muskan reflects on a subject she believes is more relevant than ever: emotional intelligence.

In this candid conversation with IWMBuzz.com, she explores friendship, loyalty, loneliness, changing relationships, and why understanding people may be one of the most important skills in today’s world.

Read on.

We live in a world where people are constantly connected. Why do so many people still feel lonely?

That’s because connection and understanding are not the same thing. Today, people know where we travelled, what we posted, what we ate, and what we’re doing. Yet very few people know what keeps us awake at night. I think loneliness is not the absence of people. It’s the absence of being understood. Many people are surrounded by friends, colleagues, and family members and still feel completely alone because they don’t feel seen. They don’t feel heard. They don’t feel understood. We’ve become experts at staying connected while slowly losing connection.

Some of life’s deepest heartbreaks don’t come from enemies. They come from people we trusted.

Why do emotionally intelligent people often seem to carry more emotional weight than others?

That’s because they notice what others don’t. They notice when someone is struggling behind a smile. They notice when effort is no longer being reciprocated. They notice when relationships change. They notice when someone is hurting but pretending to be okay. The gift of emotional intelligence is awareness. The burden of emotional intelligence is awareness. When you deeply understand people, you also absorb a lot of what they carry. You often become the person everyone turns to for support while quietly carrying your own struggles. And over time, that can become emotionally exhausting.

Why do some of the kindest people often end up feeling the most hurt?

Kind people don’t usually keep score. They don’t constantly remind others of what they’ve done. They show up because they care. But somewhere deep inside, every human being wants to feel valued. The pain doesn’t come from giving. The pain comes from realising that your presence was appreciated only when it was convenient. Many emotionally intelligent people spend years being there for others and then discover that when they need support, the room has become very quiet. That realisation changes you.

Why do people disappear when we need them the most?

Anyone can stand beside you when life is easy. Anyone can celebrate your victories. Anyone can enjoy the sunshine. But not everyone is willing to sit beside you during the storm. Struggle asks something from people. It asks for patience. It asks for empathy. It asks for emotional presence. And that’s where many relationships are tested. Some of life’s deepest heartbreaks don’t come from enemies. They come from people we trusted.

Do you think social media has changed friendships?

Absolutely. Social media has given us access to each other’s lives, but not necessarily access to each other’s hearts. We know updates. We know highlights. We know achievements. But we often don’t know fears, insecurities, disappointments, or struggles. Sometimes I feel we have become very visible and yet deeply unseen. And that is why so many people today are craving genuine conversations rather than constant communication.

Why do people replace old friendships so easily?

I don’t think friendships are always lost because people are busy. The difficult truth is that not everyone values history. Not everyone values loyalty. Not everyone values the people who stood beside them during some of the hardest chapters of their lives. As people grow, they meet new friends, enter new circles, discover new opportunities, and sometimes become attracted to relationships that feel more exciting, more beneficial, or more aligned with the life they are building. There is nothing wrong with meeting new people. The problem begins when new connections come at the cost of old ones. What hurts isn’t that people move forward. What hurts is when someone who once mattered deeply slowly becomes an afterthought. When conversations become shorter. When effort becomes one-sided. When years of shared memories suddenly seem less valuable than the excitement of something new.

Some of the strongest people I know are carrying battles nobody knows about.

Perhaps the saddest part is that many people don’t even realise they’re doing it. They’re so focused on what they’re gaining that they rarely stop to think about what someone else might be losing. I’ve learned that loyalty isn’t tested when life is comfortable. It’s tested when something newer, shinier, or more beneficial enters your life. Do you still remember the people who stood beside you before any of it arrived? Do you still make space for the friendships that helped shape who you are today? Because relationships don’t always end with an argument. Sometimes they end with neglect. Sometimes they end with silence. And sometimes the people we never imagined losing slowly become strangers while we’re still holding onto the version of the friendship that once existed. That, perhaps, is one of the quietest heartbreaks of adulthood.

What has the television industry taught you about human relationships?

The television industry has taught me that life moves very fast, but the human heart doesn’t. We work long hours, chase deadlines, celebrate successes, fight challenges, and constantly move from one project to another. In that process, I’ve seen how easy it is for people to become consumed by work. Ambition is important. Growth is important. Success is important. But somewhere along the way, many people become so focused on reaching the next destination that they forget to appreciate the people who walked part of the journey with them. I’ve seen friendships change because priorities changed. I’ve seen people become distant, not because there was conflict, but because life became busy and nobody stopped to ask how the other person was feeling.

The industry has taught me that success brings you into contact with many people. Difficult times reveal who truly belongs in your life. At the end of the day, projects end. Shows end. Achievements become memories. But the way we make people feel stays with them for years. People may forget your designation. People may forget your success. But they rarely forget whether you remembered them when success arrived.

Is being strong making us invisible?

I think it often does. The people who openly express their pain usually receive support. The people who quietly carry their pain often receive expectations. When someone is strong for a long time, people begin to assume they don’t need help. But strength is not the absence of struggle. Strength is often a struggle that has taught me how to stay silent. Some of the strongest people I know are carrying battles nobody knows about.

The greatest form of emotional intelligence is making sure the people we care about never have to guess where they stand with us.

Why are people so quick to judge?

Understanding requires patience, listening and empathy. Most people hear one chapter and assume they know the entire story. But every single person is carrying experiences we know nothing about. A heartbreak. A disappointment. A fear. A loss. A regret. The older I get, the more I realise that empathy saves relationships that assumptions destroy.

What is the hardest truth you have learned about friendship?

That not everyone will love you the way you love them. It simply means people have different capacities, different priorities, and different definitions of loyalty. For me, loyalty has never been about who celebrates your success the loudest. Loyalty is who remains when there is nothing to gain. When life becomes difficult. When things become inconvenient.When staying requires effort. That’s where true friendship reveals itself.

If there is one message you would like people to take away from this conversation, what would it be?

Check on your strong friends. Check on the people who always say, “I’m fine.” Check on the people who make everyone laugh. Check on the people who never ask for help. The world is full of people carrying invisible weight. A kind message. A genuine conversation. A simple “How are you really doing?”These things matter more than we realise. People don’t break simply because life is hard. People break when they feel they have to face it alone. And perhaps the greatest form of emotional intelligence is making sure the people we care about never have to guess where they stand with us.