Songs, Stories, Books and more…

The number of times this poor blog has been neglected and re-activated, I know not! The year since my last blog post has been memorable – not necessarily in the sense we wanted it to be… what with the raging global pandemic since January!

Besides work – professional and household, books, and old Hindi music, if there is one thing that has kept me great company, it has been my new found obsession and love for Korean drama and movies.

I first heard about “how awesome K-drama is” from Madhu when we met for lunch many many years ago. She was raving about some shows. I noted them down – for future viewing and then promptly forgot about them. Then again last year, a school friend went on and on about how she watched only K-drama. By this time, K-Pop (aka BTS, EXO) were also names I had encountered – thanks to a teenage music-obsessed nephew. And so it was, and I took the plunge and watched my first K-drama – The Lady in Dignity. That was followed by another, The Last Empress. And boy, before I even realised, I was hooked. A new obsession had begun.

Instead of watching re-runs of old Hindi movies, I was now scouring the net for more information on what serials to watch and discovered a whole new world in the process. And yes, Madhu and that school friend have been contacted regularly for more and recommendations. Thank you!

As for family and close friends, they are more than ready to pack me off to Korea – yes, the obsession had reached such a limit, where I started taking online classes to learn the language.

(pic credit – Channel Korea)

As is the case with the newly converted, I am probably more fanatical in my approach and have been evangelising about the cause and spreading the word. Anyone who has spoken to me the past 6-8 months have heard about how amazing and binge-worthy those shows are. And where once upon a time, the likes of Shammi Kapoor and Dev Anand would get a mention, these days, the spot has been firmly taken by the likes of  Ji Chang Wook and Joo Sang-Wook (they are two different stars  – with different personalities – but similar names!)

Now, now, the purpose of this post is not to gush. But also to expand the scope of this nearly-defunct-now-again-revived blog – as in now, along with Hindi music/ movies and books (both of which have rarely been reviewed), I may also post about K-drama.

Ranging from fantasy (While You were Sleeping, Goblin) to time travel (Chicago Typewriter, Faith); historical romances (Love in the Moonlight) to modern day rom-coms (Her Private Life), the dramas offer an escape into a world vastly different from my own (and perhaps equally fantastical to even the common Korean).

With a healthy dose of suspension of disbelief, K-drama is perfect – especially in terms like this when the real world is riddled with challenges.

Dear readers (if there are any left – considering my tardiness at updating this blog), do watch these shows. You probably will hear more about them here!