Jun Taki

 

“Sarangeh” (I Love U)

“Annyong” (Hi/Hello)

“Oppa” (elder)

“Aaniyo” (no)...... 

.... As strange as it sounds, these words are now common and have become a part of regular conversation among the youth especially teenagers in schools— surprisingly these words are not local languages but is Korean.  The “Korean Wave” or “Hallyu” after gripping the rest of the world and North East India has found a firm fan base here in Arunachal in particular the state capital.

The Korean spell is potent and teenagers heady under its influence can be seen flaunting flamboyant hairstyles, makeup, using chopsticks to eat, Korean words for communicating with friends and even sleeping on the floor instead of their bed as is the way in Korean. All things ‘K’ is quite the rage and this obsession has also resulted in mushrooming of cafes and restaurants in the capital all dedicated to Korean cuisine.

Kimbab, Bibimbap,  Korean green tea, Tangsuyuk, Jajangmyeow etc, are steadily making their way into Arunachal society which until now gorged on steaming momos, thukpa etc.

Watti Sor, a native of Nagaland, who runs Café Moa, credits her Korean husband as the inspiration behind opening the much frequented outlet at Vivek Vihar. The couple says business aside they also wanted to introduce Itanagarians to a new taste. 

‘Unlike other northeastern states, the youths of Arunachal are leaning towards Korean culture, music, fashion and movies. And the idea behind opening the joint is to provide an opportunity for the people to taste the cuisine of a place they have been influenced by,’ she added. 

Another eatery, Kitchen King has hired a trained chef from mainland India in view of the huge demand.

In case you are wondering, ‘Kimbab’ so far seems to be the most popular hands down.

The ‘Hallyu’ world domination relies heavily on adulation of the young citizens. This Sub-Culture has been viewed by especially adults as a concern stemming from a belief that the younger generation are fast wandering away from their roots under the impact of an alien phenomenon.

 But Techi Tallang, lead vocalist of boy band "Brooks”, which represented India in the K-pop contest in South Korea organised by Korean Culture Centre India (KCCI) last year begs to differ.

‘In this age of modernization we must learn to go with the flow but balance must be maintained. We can still follow western trends and not stray away from our traditional culture and customs,’ he quips.

Tallang who rocks the K-Pop trend to the hilt with distressed jeans, ombre hair et al, is quite the star here with girl fan-following states, ‘K-pop is more than entertainment and it has changed my way of life.’ We cannot argue with that, can we?

‘Korean culture is a distinctive one with their songs and dramas highly addictive. I also like their way of life, which has some similarity to ours,” said Julian Pinggam, a K-Pop artist running a band called V2A. The 14 year old student, with her partner, Sophia Michigan had bagged the third place in the national level K-Pop contest last year.

No matter the reasons, the inroad made by a faraway culture is no short of phenomenal and has an underlying bigger message.

Somewhere in the cutesy packaging and all the paraphernalia, Korean culture has successfully enabled easy assimilation of the North East people. This sense of belonging-ness which K-culture has managed to inspire is the prime reason why the Hallyu wave is very much here to stay.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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