Like many others out there, Nethra A is trying to make the lockdown more productive. She has now published her first book – My Ramyeon Girl. “Because of the lockdown, I had nothing better to do, so I decided to work on my book, which I always wanted to publish,” says the advertising professional. The book speaks about the tough time celebrities in South Korea face, while dealing with racism. It also keeps the love story between the lead character, Lee Jung-Su and his love interest Meena, an Indian girl, in the foreground.
“I have always been fascinated with Korean dramas since I was 23, so my first book had to be something related to that,” she says, adding how her research revealed their obsession with fair skin. “If an actor is dusky or even less fair than the others, they have to deal with racism almost every day. The fans get very intrusive,” shares Nethra. She ensured the plot was told from the Korean character’s perspective in order to lend more authenticity to the story.
Though the 32-years-old wrote most of the book in 2014, it wasn’t until now that she had the time to proof read and publish it. “More than love stories, I have always been a fan of fantasy fiction and always wanted my debut book to be from that genre. But since I had already written this, I decided to publish it. It took a pandemic like coronavirus to publish my first book,” laughs Nethra.
One can’t help but wonder how she found a publisher during these times. The city girl replies, “I own a company called Fablery media house and it was published under that.” The firm, which is fairly new, is also trying to experiment with short movies. In order to keep the book bias-free, it was edited by one of her friends who also writes short fiction.
Plot point
Lee Jung-Su, a star at the peak of his career, meets Meena at a ramyeon shop. He gradually grows to like her but encounters racism first-hand as he falls for the Indian girl. The consequences of his relationship with Meena change his perspectives of black and white, and of reality and fantasy.