Happy Belated Birthday mate! Australia is also an island nation and we are definitely more isolated then Japan, but no one calls Aussies reclused. Definitely a difference in culture for sure.

Talking and interacting with other people is a like a muscle that you need to keep using it regularly. A long long time ago, my World of Warcraft Guild will make it a point to organise monthly face to face meet ups and even though we spent most of the time talking about the game, it lets you use that muscle. Not sure how many SPL players are there in Kochi to make that work, but it's a start.