It was during the lockdown that I watched my first K-drama. My school friends were into watching Korean dramas and would tell me to start watching as well. But I wasn't very keen initially. But during the lockdown, when we switched to online classes, it was then that I watched Goblin and absolutely loved it. I remember crying, because the ending was very emotional. I even discussed the movie and the ending with my friends over the next few days.
Soon, we ended up forming an informal "gang" of girls-about 10-12 girls from my school, who loved watching K-dramas. I watched many K-dramas while I was living with my parents in Shimla and studying there.
I loved the outfits that girls wore in these dramas. The pastel outfits and minimal makeup-accessories looks really appealed to me. That time, it was common to see girls wearing Korean outfits and walking down the famous Mall Road in Shimla. We started doing that too. There is a market called Lower Bazaar where they would sell affordable Korean clothes. I remember we used to go there and buy mini-skirts and boots. In fact, my dad had beige trousers. He wore it on his wedding day. It was kept in the almirah, untouched, for years. I altered the trousers, made it into high pants and I wore it for a few years with pastel blouses and tank tops.
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#Korean #Korea #KoreanFood #KFood #KPop #Kfans #KCulture #KoreanFashion #Shimla
Soon, we ended up forming an informal "gang" of girls-about 10-12 girls from my school, who loved watching K-dramas. I watched many K-dramas while I was living with my parents in Shimla and studying there.
I loved the outfits that girls wore in these dramas. The pastel outfits and minimal makeup-accessories looks really appealed to me. That time, it was common to see girls wearing Korean outfits and walking down the famous Mall Road in Shimla. We started doing that too. There is a market called Lower Bazaar where they would sell affordable Korean clothes. I remember we used to go there and buy mini-skirts and boots. In fact, my dad had beige trousers. He wore it on his wedding day. It was kept in the almirah, untouched, for years. I altered the trousers, made it into high pants and I wore it for a few years with pastel blouses and tank tops.
Reporter: Rani Jana
Editor: Sudhanshu
Follow us:
Website: https://www.outlookindia.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Outlookindia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outlookindia/
X: https://twitter.com/Outlookindia
Whatsapp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaNrF3v0AgWLA6OnJH0R
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OutlookMagazine
Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/outlookindia
#Korean #Korea #KoreanFood #KFood #KPop #Kfans #KCulture #KoreanFashion #Shimla
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hello. My name is Aryaratna.
00:03When did you first listen to K-pop?
00:06Basically, during COVID-19, I happened to watch one of the Korean dramas first.
00:14I was introduced to the dramas and gradually I started listening to the music.
00:21That was during the COVID-19 only.
00:23That was the wave when Korean culture actually started impacting the Indian society.
00:30What drama did you watch?
00:31My first drama was Goblin, the Guardian of Angels.
00:36It was a very long hit. It had around 25-28 episodes.
00:40And each episode is about one hour long.
00:43But it was so interesting that I watched it all and I loved it.
00:47And after that, I think I've watched more than 50 dramas now.
00:52So what kind of Korean music do you listen to and what are your favorite bands?
00:57The most famous band is BTS, the Bangtan Boys.
01:01The group is called ARMY. They are known by the ARMYs.
01:05And Blackpink is another.
01:07There is this one more group called EXO-XO.
01:10And what are your favorite songs from these bands?
01:16As I mentioned, I don't listen to music as much.
01:20But after when they collaborated, BTS started collaborating with Hollywood singers also.
01:28So that's when I started listening to some of the music.
01:34They collaborated with Charlie Puth.
01:38Their song is Left and Right.
01:40So that's one of my... I love that song basically.
01:43Can you tell me a little bit about your look firstly?
01:47Can you describe what inspired your look?
01:51Actresses are mostly wearing pastel colors.
01:54They do not wear bright colors at all.
02:00So I'm wearing the beige dress.
02:02And they wear very comfortable clothes actually.
02:06And Korean girls actually cover their upper body.
02:11That's the thing.
02:12So they don't wear sleeveless.
02:14There's a myth that they wear...
02:16I don't know. That's not a myth actually.
02:18It's a fact that they can show their legs and all.
02:21That's why they wear miniskirts.
02:23You must have seen girls wearing miniskirts and all.
02:25Like when you were putting this look together,
02:27if you have to think of a K-drama character,
02:32who were you thinking about when you were dressing up?
02:35The drama I watched first started in Poland.
02:38She was wearing this dress almost somewhat like this in her first look
02:43when she was first seen in the drama.
02:46So yeah, that's what I kept in mind.
02:50Can you tell a little bit about what are your other fashion inspos from other K-dramas?
02:56Yeah, there is this another drama, Nevertheless,
03:01that is totally fully based on fashion designing and all this.
03:07So almost all the girls in that drama,
03:12they were wearing such dresses.
03:14And their fashion was totally very minimal and pastel colours that involved.
03:22So yeah, Nevertheless was one.
03:24And there's a whole list.
03:26There's this one, the Tale of the Nine-Tailed.
03:29She was a businesswoman.
03:30She was mostly dressed up as...
03:32She wore blazers and mostly that.
03:35But I chose this look first.
03:37Can you tell me a little bit about how you made a Korean dress
03:42from your father's old clothes?
03:44Yeah, I had this...
03:48My dad's pants.
03:50It was his...
03:51He was wearing it on his marriage, the blazer.
03:54And so the colour, again, the colour was beige and it was long.
03:58It was like a fully office wear trousers, high-waisted.
04:05So I altered it according to my size.
04:08And it went well with the tank tops and all.
04:12So I wore it around.
04:13I wore it a lot.
04:15And I kept it at home because it was not suiting me now.
04:20You made friends with 10-12 other girls who you started interacting with
04:26because of all of your love for Korean culture.
04:30Can you tell me a little bit about your girl gang and how you guys came together?
04:35Actually, they are my school friends.
04:37They introduced me to K-dramas.
04:39I was not a fan at all till 2020.
04:42Then they forced me, actually.
04:44They literally forced me to watch it
04:45because the storyline of that drama is too good, too good.
04:50And so, yeah, all of them are my school friends.
04:54They're from Shimla.
04:55When you guys would hang out together, would you watch K-dramas together?
05:00Like, was it an activity that, you know, you kind of did together?
05:03Yes, yes, absolutely.
05:05We had such a craze of watching K-dramas that in my, I think, 11th or 12th,
05:13we did not go to school much because of COVID only.
05:17So we took phones and also whenever we got time, we used to watch.
05:22We just sat on the ground and watched K-dramas during our breaks.
05:27Any drama that you watched together and any scene
05:30where you guys cried a lot or laughed a lot, like something like that?
05:35Yeah, so my friends were written.
05:37I was at a night out with my, at my friend's place only.
05:41So we had decided to watch this drama only.
05:44The drama is Tale of the Night.
05:46It is also a very emotional storyline.
05:48That was one drama we watched together or we binge-watched it whole night.
05:56Yeah, we cried, we laughed.
05:58It was a very great memory I had of school.
06:00And any particular scene from the drama you guys,
06:04you remember discussing with your friends?
06:06Because Goblin was my first drama, I discussed a lot.
06:09Because the ending, it has, it is very emotional, very, very emotional.
06:15And that is one, I've watched, I think I've re-watched it twice or thrice
06:21because of the ending only.
06:23And I've talked a lot about it because the way the main character, he dies and,
06:29but he does come back, I think, yeah.
06:32But when he dies, that was really emotional.
06:35It has been a few years since 2020 and 2021, since the pandemic.
06:41Your friends and you must be living in completely different cities now.
06:45So how do you guys stay in touch?
06:48Like, is the Korean dramas and,
06:52still like a part of your conversation of, you know,
06:55coming back together and, you know, discussing?
06:57Totally, randomly, at 3 o'clock randomly we text,
07:00Koi khe drama hai, are you watching anything currently?
07:04And we host Google Meets also to watch it sometimes, together.
07:08There is this drama called The Boom.
07:11We watched it and it has been a lot of time now
07:15because everyone's busy and we've grown up now.
07:18So, and there is this another drama, Celebrity.
07:22So yeah, we watched it, all of it.
07:25And I've watched Squid Game on Google Meet only with my sister
07:29because I'm not living in Shimla anymore.
07:31Okay, what are some of the K-dramas you suggested?
07:34Have you guys watched any K-dramas together?
07:37Squid Game is one.
07:39I told her to watch True Beauty, it was a good one.
07:43And there is this another, Gang Beauty.
07:47We've watched K-dramas together, not all because as I shifted,
07:52but I suggest her and she watches it and then we talk about it.
07:57So because of watching K-dramas and getting into Korean fashion,
08:01have you also tried Korean food?
08:04Oh yes, I have.
08:07When I shifted to Bombay, one thing I was excited about was
08:11because there are a lot of Korean cafes here.
08:15I've tried, there are these dishes,
08:18Gimbap and one dish with the cabbage.
08:23That is one thing I tried here.
08:26The cafe was Hangbok and I visited frequently.
08:29The setup is totally like Korean, the low-heighted tables
08:32and all the seatings are on the floor only.
08:37So it has a good vibe.
08:39And did you by any chance also learn how to make Korean food?
08:43I did during the lockdown only, but it requires a lot of ingredients.
08:48What are the dishes you tried making?
08:51I made Kimchi.
08:52It is made with cabbage.
08:54That was one dish that felt easier to make.
08:57So I tried it.
08:58It is mostly eaten as we like, Indian eat pickles.
09:02So Kimchi is eaten as pickles only.
09:07Are there fashion stores where you can buy Korean culture outfits
09:15and Korean inspired clothes?
09:18Yeah, there is this market, it's known as Lower Bazaar.
09:24So if you go there, there is no particular name
09:28but you have stalls and you have shops
09:32that they've got Korean clothing and everything.
09:36Have you gone shopping for Korean inspired clothes with your girl gang?
09:43Yeah, there was a time we used to.
09:44So our main goal was to dress up like Koreans
09:47to like those stockings and like boots and high heels
09:52and mini skirts and everything.
09:54So we mostly, we shopped.
09:58It was during the school time only
10:00but we shopped a lot for like Koreans and their clothes.
10:03So in Shimla and Himachal Pradesh,
10:07I think your traditional dance is Nati.
10:10You were very much into this dance form, Nati.
10:14Then you, now you are switching to K-pop.
10:18So like, how has the transition been?
10:21Actually, the music videos they've got,
10:23it has a lot of energy they put into the music videos.
10:28So that really inspired me
10:30and it was one way of losing weight as well.
10:33We used to watch their music videos
10:37and I've learned steps during the lockdown only.
10:42Did you try learning Korean language as well?
10:45Yes, I did.
10:46But again, I have no clue.
10:48I bought books.
10:50There is this app Duolingo.
10:53I've used it for a year
10:55and there was a time when I used to write in Korean.
10:59I could read Korean.
11:01I was almost there but I shifted back to Bombay
11:05and I got busy in my own world.
11:06But like, yeah, I've learned Korean.
11:09I also wanted to ask,
11:10like, since you and your sister both are into K-dramas,
11:15how did your parents, you know,
11:17what do your parents think of your liking towards K-drama?
11:23Actually, they don't understand a word of it, obviously.
11:27But like, when I was watching,
11:28they don't interrupt much, they know that.
11:32So there is a moment, there was this,
11:34I think we were watching It's Okay Not To Be Okay Only,
11:36my sister and I.
11:38My mom was, my mom sat with us.
11:40She was initially used to, like,
11:41what are you looking at?
11:43And she sat and she watched the whole episode with us.
11:46Actually, she found it interesting too.