Attending a Kpop concert in India? - A cultural reset!

How does it feel when I mention Kpop and India together? It is a major achievement for Indian Kpop fans.

When I attended a Kpop concert in my hometown last year, it still felt surreal. I guess every Indian Kpop lover would relate to this feeling when you are not used to seeing Korean artists performing or even talking about India. 

Kpop or the Korean pop music has played a pivotal role in spreading the essence of Korean culture across the globe. The Korean entertainment industry be it K dramas, movies and Kpop has attracted fans from every corner to the extent that many people visit South Korea only for that purpose.

However, the story is totally different in India. With the strong presence of Bollywood, Kpop is a far cry in India. Apart from the Northeastern states, the rest of the Indian population is hardly interested on the Asian culture.

Gradually things have taken a new direction when a lot of scattered Kpop fans across India started organizing fanclubs and even has taken initiatives to contact the Korean culture centre to let them know of the presence of Indian Kpop fans.

I still recall the moment I heard about Kard- a mixed gendered Kpop group planning to hold a concert in India. They had earlier announced their plan to perform in Delhi and didn’t gave any further updates. Since I was in my hometown Guwahati (Assam), I was kind of expecting this. I knew, even if Kpop groups ever visit India, it would only be in the major cosmopolitan cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.

However; I was totally taken aback when they announced that they would be visiting Guwahati as well. It was all thanks to Pink Box Events- an event management firm based in Delhi who made it possible for Kard to have their concert in India.

The memory is still fresh in my mind. It was the month of July, the heat was at its peak and unfortunately the Guwahati concert was an open ground concert. The weather in Assam was really unpredictable since summer days are never alone without a monsoon.

The only sad part was that I had to attend this concert alone since I didn’t have any fellow Kpop friends. But this didn’t stop me from purchasing the most expensive ticket around 7000 which had its perks. With this amount, I would be able to have their album along with their poster and get it signed from them as well also click a group picture with them.

This felt like a real adventure for me but thankfully I managed to befriend another girl through the Instagram chats. She was also looking for a person to accompany and I was glad to join her.

The day finally arrived. I reached the venue quite earlier than expected only to witness a huge queue. Fans were already geared up with high energy. It really felt new to witness the real Kpop fever in India. The light rain showers were alarming indeed but couldn’t dampen our spirits.

Being in a totally unfamiliar atmosphere, among the mass of strangers, I somehow didn’t feel isolated at all. I interacted with strangers, managing to come out from my introverted shell.

Everything went smoothly, except for certain privileged spoiled brats- the sons and daughters of bureaucrats who tried to enter the venue for free. This is not something shocking in India as corruption is rooted in every sphere.

I guess, a lot of non Kpop people would be wondering about what makes Kpop and Kpop celebrities so special and unique?

Despite being celebrities, they are humble and polite. They treat fans with the highest respect and honor, excluding the distance between fans and artists. Yet, certain fans take their kindness for granted and disrespect them by going beyond the limits. Therefore, Kard was not an exception.

They enjoyed every bit of the day with the fans, sharing jokes with us as well as thanking us profusely for welcoming them in India. The weather was really humid but the passion and dedication in which they performed for us was highly commendable. I mean they could have just lip synced their songs and move along to the beat but they sang live and danced those intense choreos with a powerful energy. 

This is what makes Kpop so unique and special. Every Kpop groups perform and give their complete dedication in their craft, to repay their love for fans.  

It is sometimes annoying and irritating to see certain mindless and ignorant people mocking Kpop groups, especially the male groups for breaking stereotypes, donning colored hairstyles, for wearing makeup and in conclusion for being "beautiful".

The Kard concert was a huge success but not to the extent of having a sold out event. A lot of fans are usually interested in bigger groups like BTS, Blackpink, Exo, Nct, Got7 and others. Agreed, they are really fascinating but this is India.

The saddest reality is that India is still not quite ready for such a bigger group concert. There are a lot of things that needs to be taken into account when organizing a Kpop concert. The Indian media powerhouses and bigger companies has to invest in them which is quite difficult considering the typical Indian mindset. These media houses are mostly attracted towards the Western artists like Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Chainsmokers and so on.

It was easier for Kard since they were not really huge as compared to the other bigger groups. The management companies of these major groups would only be interested if the particular country is willing to shower a huge shell on their artists. This would mean involvement of every media powerhouses, and a total sold out event. As a result, the concert prices would have be around 11,000 and more which is quite impossible for a country like India.

Still, with the amount of Indian Kpop fans slowly emerging, I think the day wouldn’t be that far when India would also be able to witness the dominance of Kpop. To all my fellow Kpop lovers, let’s keep our fingers crossed and meanwhile keep on enjoying them on YouTube.