Lamp of the East

Young girls express their love and facination for Korean culture

"South Korea has stolen my heart" -Harshita, a Ranchi-based student studying in Class 7

MY love for South Korea started in 2019. It was an ordinary day, and I was browsing through YouTube when I stumbled upon a K-pop music video. At first, I didn't know what to expect-it was all so new to me. But the moment the music started, I was hooked. The beats were so energetic, the visuals so colourful and the choreography so precise, it felt like an explosion of creativity. I hadn’t seen anything like it before. Before I knew it, I was diving deep into K-pop. BTS,

Seventeen, Blackpink—every group had something unique to offer. Their music wasn’t just fun; it made me feel something. The lyrics (even though I didn’t understand them at first) and the emotions in their voices were so powerful. Coming from a background where I listened mostly to Indian music, this was a completely new world for me. It was like discovering a hidden treasure.

However, not everyone around me was as excited about K-pop as I was. In fact, I was teased by my friends when I first started listening to it. They would ask me why I was so interested in South Korea, instead of focusing on my own country, India. At first, I didn’t know how to respond to such comments. After all, it’s true that I love my country. I take pride in my culture, religion and history, and I’m always trying to learn more about them. But I also don’t think there’s anything wrong with exploring a different country and appreciating its beauty.

Learning about South Korea doesn’t make me any less Indian. In fact, it makes me more open-minded and appreciative of the diversity in the world. I believe that the more we learn about others, the more we understand ourselves. People often forget that loving one thing doesn’t mean you can’t love another. Why should we limit our interests when there’s so much out there to discover?