'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQb/2gAIAQEAAAAARlP/xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAF/9oACAECEAAAADv/xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAE/9oACAEDEAAAAH//xAAhEAACAQIGAwAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMEBQAREhMxQgYhQf/aAAgBAQABPwChU3TyautMczIEO0sZQaBq6huQuY9/SDi67dPdKyGa4XISRzOjCIR6Mw3XMcY//8QAFhEBAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQAi/9oACAECAQE/ADKhf//EABYRAAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARMf/aAAgBAwEBPwCo/9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Six months ago, Stray Kids’ Indian regional fanbases in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Karnataka, Dimapur, Chennai, and Kolkata decided to hold a never-seen-before event in India - a Stray Kids’ cupsleeve event that merges Hyunjin’s birthday and the group’s anniversary in March.
The eight-member, million-selling group Stray Kids celebrate member Hyunjin's birthday on March 20 and their debut anniversary on March 25. Aptly named the LoveSTAY Cafe event, it is hosted in six cities (Kolkata’s event will be held on April 3). I had the opportunity to visit the cupsleeve event on March 20 in Mumbai and experience the city's first-ever STAY fandom meet.
Getting out of the rickshaw just five steps from the cafe, I could already hear Changbin spitting fire with his rap in one of the group's classic songs. The White Llama Cafe in Oshiwara was transformed into a Stray Kids haven.
Once inside, I saw the cafe decorated with Stray Kids' photos, especially the main star of the event, birthday boy Hyunjin, and Mumbai STAYs having a fun time (even though melting under the dreadful Mumbai heat).
Two girls in white tops and jeans roamed back and forth, making sure no one was bored, while a girl wearing a navy blue printed top handled the music in a transparent glass room.
The main faces behind the Stray Kids' LoveSTAY Cafe event in Mumbai, the girls in the white tops, were Stuti Hirani and Dimple Bhatia, admin and co-admin of Stray Kids Mumbai Official fanbase, with Yosha accompanying them as the DJ.
From customized Stray Kids’ song-inspired menus to mafia games and freebies that everyone obsessed over, the event opened up a space for new and old STAYs that no one ever wondered could exist.
Stray Kids' Mumbai fanbase admins discuss their first-ever pan-India LoveSTAY Cafe event
As the evening neared and the White Llama Cafe was stripped of any hint of Stray Kids' Hyunjin’s birthday event, I sat with Stuti and Dimple, along with a common friend, finally ready to deep dive into the LoveSTAY Cafe’s behind-the-scenes during, what we called, an after-party.
In a candid conversation, third-year BMM student Stuti Hirani and third-year Fashion Designing student Dimple Bhatia took me through the first Stray Kids Indian event’s inception, their personal dreams, potential future events, and many more things.
Q) Congratulations on the successful event! Hyunjin’s LoveSTAY Cafe is the first pan-India Stray Kids event, right?
Both: Yes
Q) Who thought of naming it as LoveSTAY? What was the idea behind it?
Stuti: Hyunjin’s official hashtag is #LoveSTAY and we wanted something related to [Stray Kids' member] Hyunjin’s birthday, so we just came up with LoveSTAY Cafe.
Q) How was it organizing a pan-India Stray Kids event especially when you have so many different people to talk and organize things with? Such as keeping everyone in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, etc. on the same page?
Stuti: We were actually nervous about how it would work out.
Dimple: Actually, most of the credit goes to Mudi. She’s the Stray Kids India account’s admin. She organized everything, made groups…
Stuti: She helped us with merches…
Dimple: She personally had meetings with us and talked about everything in detail. She was even online the whole time, answering all our questions.
Stuti: She helped us a lot. Not only Mumbai [fanbase] but all other fanbases too.
Dimple: Even if it was at the last minute, she replied and was ready.
Q) So would you say Mudi, the Stray Kids India admin, was the mastermind behind the LoveSTAY Cafe events?
Both: Yes
Stuti: She started with the idea that let’s celebrate as [Stray Kids’ member] Hyunjin’s birthday and the group anniversary are coming in the same month, so let’s keep something. We were planning this for three months and after that we decided that we can keep Mumbai on the list as well. Then we started planning for it. And then till now, we have done everything together in which Mudi helped us a lot.
Q) Talking about Stray Kids India Instagram account, how do you feel about the group gaining this exponential growth in terms of fandom both in India and abroad?
Stuti: It’s surprising for us that, of course, there are other groups such as BTS and EXO gaining popularity in India, but Stray Kids coming in the charts and gaining the exact same popularity at this time is really… we feel really happy for it and for being a part of the fandom.
As we handle the page, we are seeing through the insights that how the fandom has grown throughout these years, and they are gaining a lot of popularity.
Q) What would you say was the turning point when Stray Kids gained a massive growth of Indian STAYs?
Stuti: Of course India, as well as internationally, Stray Kids gained most of the popularity during God’s Menu era.
Dimple: And after Kingdom [Legendary War] as well.
Stuti: Yeah, after Kingdom too. I believe they gained immense popularity after those two events.
Q) Major thing about K-pop fans in India is that India is still a country which is a tad bit less recognized by Korean groups and agencies. Even though we’re recently getting a lot more interviews either from major or rookie groups, do you think that the Indian fandom for Stray Kids has a long way to go or do you think we’re halfway there?
For example, the MANIAC world tour is coming up, Stray Kids also had an interview with a major Indian publication already. So where do you think the Indian STAY fandom stands?
Stuti: The company and Stray Kids know that Indian fans exist and…
Dimple: Actually the whole of K-pop knows that Indian fans exist.
Stuti: And I believe they’re ready for the events as well…
Dimple: But they’re still testing the waters and market over here, because official goods are not bought over here that much. I mean, from the past two-three years, I’ve seen a lot of people buying albums and official groups merch.
Stuti: Recently BTS held an online live concert which was screened all over the world and it was sold out in India. So, by these things, they can see the insights of how the [Indian] K-pop market is. Stray Kids can try [coming to India] in the future. If not this comeback but for the next tour, they can definitely count India in this.
Dimple: Maybe another five years? (laughs)
Stuti: No, not five years. Maximum two years. Because Indian fans are also growing because of MANIAC.
Q) Coming back to the Stray Kids LoveSTAY Cafe, all six cities had different inclusions and menus, what was the inspiration behind the customized menu and the freebies?
Stuti: We collectively thought about it. Cupsleeves were compulsory for all the cities with the same layout, but for freebies, it was on us depending on if we wanted to do a sticker, photocards, or anything of that sort.
Dimple: I think it’s (freebies) a classic. There must be photocards. There must be a bookmark or a film strip. So it just comes instinctively.
Stuti: And of course, we wanted to keep something different so we came up with different names for the menu and it’s God’s Menu. And the cafe’s name is White Llama, and Hyunjin is a llama (The Stray Kids member's representative animal). He loves white and his Jiniret (SKZOO character) is white. (pointing to the blue and white tarp) Pink, blue, white all these are Hyunjin’s colors.
Q) How did organizing your first offline event feel like? Was it difficult, easy, tiresome, anxious, nervous, etc.?
Dimple: There’s a lot to say (laughs).
Stuti: Actually the planning was done six months ago but we actually started three months ago.
Dimple: The most difficult part was managing our personal lives because Stuti is almost graduating and I’m a fashion designer. I’m in my third year and it’s the last semester. I’m almost at my thesis stage. It was hard to, you know, balance assignments and the event.
Stuti: Yeah it was really tough to handle my assignments as well as the operations for the events.
Dimple: Deciding on the cafe was the toughest.
Stuti: Yeah, the toughest thing was the cafe. We roamed around, selected 10 cafes and then we selected White Llama as our option.
Dimple: Keeping the budget was the main thing, plus considering that there are many young stans here, so you know, coming down to a very low cost. We tried to do that.
Stuti: For the merch, we tried to keep everything as cheap as possible.
Stuti: Also like MANIAC was just two days ago.
Dimple: I think the hype of the comeback helped our event.
Stuti: And of course, Mudi did a really great job in helping us hyping and posting stuff. Because of Stray Kids India [account], we got a lot of Mumbai responses as well.
Dimple: And Mumbai followers too. People realized that we have a Mumbai page.
Stuti: (laughs)
Dimple: They started following us as well. So I guess next time if we do organize an event, we’ll get an ever greater response.
Stuti: After this event we can say people gained trust from our side and I guess they will look forward to our events in the future.
Dimple: Oh, many people had their first [K-pop] event today as well.
Stuti: Yes, so it was really exciting for them as well.
Dimple: Yes, it was a great drive to organize the event.
Stuti: And the printing and everything was chaotic. It was very last moment.
Q) So how did it feel like when others were printing out, say their legal contracts or documents, but there you were, printing Hyunjin wearing a crown and other Stray Kids members?
Stuti: We were really anxious. Also because Bang Chan’s photocards have abs… (both laugh) so we were thinking, ‘How will they react?’ and stuff like that but then we were like, ‘Chuck it.’
Dimple: Yeah, I mean we were doing bulk printing and I guess they (the printing staff) were excited as well.
Q) What was the purpose behind the pan-India Stray Kids LoveSTAY Cafe event? Do you think it hit the nail on the mark?
Dimple: The main target of the event was that we meet and woh pura ho gaya (and that was achieved). It was like socializing with other STAYs for the first time instead of a WhatsApp GC (group chat) and Instagram GC, meeting face-to-face.
Stuti: Yeah and we wanted them to interact better.
Dimple: And fangirl or fanboy together. It was just a dream before [to have] a Stray Kids event, because usually in India, BTS events happen a lot.
Stuti: So people were actually excited that we were having a Stray Kids event, another group except for big groups. There were many new STAYs as well so they were pretty excited [for the event] and they were like, ‘We will stan them more!’
Q) Nearing the end of the interview! What was your favorite segment of the Stray Kids LoveSTAY Cafe event? You had a quiz, random play dance, cake cutting, mafia game - which no one knew about. You had 3-4 things planned, which one was your favorite? Was there even a favorite or did you like everything?
Dimple: I personally think I liked everything. Even though I still feel that we were a bit lacking, we had a lot of games planned…
Stuti: Yeah, even though we had time we couldn’t manage everything... Manage in the sense that everything was jumbled up and we did not get to complete all things in the short amount of time. Even maximum hours are less for K-pop stans.
Dimple: Yeah, we need a whole day for this. I personally liked the decoration part. It was so pretty.
Stuti: It was all about Hyunjin Prince thing! It was cute.
Q) As this was also your first event, what were your learnings? Do you see yourself organizing more events in the future?
Dimple: I think, yeah… because… you go on. I forgot what I wanted to say.
Stuti: Time management.
Dimple: Time management is important. If you want to organize an event, you have to finish it a month, a week before the whole event.
Stuti: No, not a month, a week before. The whole preparation including freebies, if you keep freebies, the cafe - every single detail, [finalizing] cafe before a month and merch and everything before a week - which we messed up last moment. Oh, and we can keep more games for people to interact better.
Dimple: We can find more creative ideas for activities where everyone can participate even if there are more people so not just one person gets the attention.
Stuti: Yeah and this time, we tried our best. Like the first game was to make a group of seven, so it was like, you have to interact and you yourself have to make seven members ka group (a group of seven members). So we kept something like that so that people would interact more.
Dimple: Socializing is very important for K-pop events. We were forcing everyone today to socialize.
Stuti: And we ourselves were socializing because we both are introverts, so... (laughs)
Dimple: Yeah we both are introverts. Matlab ek mahine mein itna baat nahin kiya jitna aaj kiya hai humne. (It’s almost like we did an entire month’s worth of talking in just one day today).
Stuti: Not one month, in our whole existence we did not speak jitna humne ek mahine mein baat kiya (In our whole existence we didn’t speak as much as we did this past month).
Dimple: And I think we gained many, you can say, friends and acquaintances.
Q) We also have Stray Kids' rapper Changbin’s birthday coming up in August and then the trio’s birthday - Han, Felix and Seungmin’s - in September. Not to pressure you, but do you think you could plan another event for Indian STAYs considering the amount of registrations you received for LoveSTAY Cafe and the feedback?
Stuti: We would definitely love to, especially during September as September’s like ‘THE’ month for Stray Kids.
Dimple: One inclusive event for all the birthdays together might work.
Stuti: Yeah so as August and September’s back-to-back so we can keep Changbin plus the trio [on the same day].
Dimple: I think we can work better than this (LoveSTAY Cafe) event because we’re first timers.
Stuti: Yes and we had great responses over all, so we can work on ourselves as well after this.
Q) Is there anything you’d want to say to the people who attended and made the the LoveSTAY Cafe for Stray Kids event better?
Stuti: Thank you so much. We love you all. Thank you for attending the event.
Dimple: Thank you for the great response, which we didn’t expect. We were actually thinking of keeping a two-day event because of the responses.
Stuti: But we didn’t have time because of our assignments as well and plus we could not do it because the second day’s response was like… It did not match with our timing…
Dimple: I think everyone was very understanding because we were kind of awkward as well.
Stuti: And we actually tried our best. The limit was only 50 because of the pandemic and the cafe restrictions.
Dimple: But we increased it to 57.
Stuti: Because the two-day event was not there we came up with 57 people in one day.
Q) Last question! Did you like being organizers?
Dimple: Yeah. It was a personal dream of mine and of Stuti’s as well. We had decided two years back that we would…
Stuti: We have one more dream which…
Dimple: Yeah we have one more dream, which is a K-pop DJ party. A club party. I mean, minors can come too…
Stuti: Like a minor-friendly DJ party.
Dimple: [A place] where you just dance the night away.
Stuti: And not random play dance, but like a proper DJ.
Dimple: And it’s not like ek-do ghante mein khatam hone wala hai (that it will get over in just an hour or two). A long event.
Stuti: That’s what we’ve wanted to do for a long time.
Dimple: So we are, you know, thinking of a budget and slowly planning for it, gathering our thoughts.
Stuti: We are gaining experience about events and how it goes and then we can think about something like this in the future.
Dimple: Yeah, when we’ll be fit for that.
Giving Indian STAYs a taste of the incredible things that are possible through sheer dedication, here’s looking forward to the talented self-producing group Stray Kids Indian and global fandom growing even more.
