New Delhi, Dec. 28 -- A big part of my job is talking, and listening, to people. Naturally, that requires a lot of predictable small talk.

For years, I found these superficial exchanges draining, both physically and emotionally. But they are convenient-and, more importantly, necessary. You stay connected while remaining safely disconnected. If you're an introvert like me, small talk can be self-preserving: a way to avoid being ambushed with questions about your deepest fears or most entrenched beliefs.

That changed this year.

During a fashion show in January, a fellow journalist and I shared an inexplicable moment: a spark in the middle of small talk. While I cribbed about a deadline, he mentioned how he couldn't file a story the previ...