Lee Jae Ku, a taekwondo master from South Korea, came to the City more than 16 years back. Since then, his entire life has come to revolve around Bangalore. Lee lives with his wife, Elysia Nasoon Sook, in Kuvempu Layout. Their two sons, Peter and David, study in a boarding school.
"When I first came to City, I felt like I had to head back home as soon as possible. But I kept telling myself to stay on for a few months more to see how it goes. The stay extended to a year and then I went back to South Korea — but eventually I came back, only to settle down in Bangalore," says Lee.
With the martial art that he practices and teaches, Lee reaches out to underprivileged and slum children who can't afford an education. "Taekwondo is an art form which teaches one a lot about life and educates them. I use the art to do what I can for the society," explains Lee.
"It's very endearing to hear the stories of my students and see their progress in life. Some of them have got married and have children now, and I feel like a father figure to them all. It feels nice to have affected their lives in such a positive way," adds Lee with a smile.
Lee has a private institution in Kamanahalli. Apart from teaching taekwondo and other forms of self-defence, he also conducts fitness and weight-loss programmes.
"With the schedules that people have here, it's hard to control food intake. And crash dieting only slows down metabolism. At my institution and otherwise, I encourage heavy people also to come and learn the art," elaborates Lee.
Lee has been to many places in the country like Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai and Cochin. But he feels that Bangalore tops the lot. To Lee, Bangalore is home.
"The weather here is fantastic; anyone would love the City for just that. This City is a very accepting one and the most hospitable in the country. There's a lot that has changed about Bangalore and much that needs to be done — but this is the City we are in and love to be in," states Lee.
Ask him in detail about the changes he has seen in the City, having stayed here for a while, and pat comes the reply, "The City has become more polluted. The crime rate has increased and there are more rowdy gangs now. There is also more corruption in the society." Lee feels that the younger generation is slipping away from its values.
Lee believes that the Indian way of life is similar to Korean culture, starting from common words in the languages itself, like appa (father) and amma (mother).
"The concept of respect for others and living in joint families are something followed there too. And that is what I love here. The compassion of people is something to cherish and live with," opines Lee. Lee and Elysia used to hang out on MG Road when free but now, they limit themselves to shopping in Kamanahalli itself. "The traffic gets us stressed," Lee explains, to which Elysia agrees.
Lee family also likes to experiment with different cuisines in the City. "We love exploring Indian food. Being in Bangalore, it's mostly South Indian food like idli, vada and sambhar. Spicy food is our favourite and we have experimented with Andhra cuisine too — it isn't difficult for us since our cuisine is spicy as well," adds Lee.
In their spare time, they love mingling with people and perfecting their communication and language skills. "Language is a very important factor in proper communication," believes Lee, who speaks some broken Kannada.
Summing up, Lee says, "We have met people from all across the globe here — there are people from China, Africa, the USA and so many other places. Bangalore is known for its openness and invites anyone and
everyone in."
"When I first came to City, I felt like I had to head back home as soon as possible. But I kept telling myself to stay on for a few months more to see how it goes. The stay extended to a year and then I went back to South Korea — but eventually I came back, only to settle down in Bangalore," says Lee.
With the martial art that he practices and teaches, Lee reaches out to underprivileged and slum children who can't afford an education. "Taekwondo is an art form which teaches one a lot about life and educates them. I use the art to do what I can for the society," explains Lee.
"It's very endearing to hear the stories of my students and see their progress in life. Some of them have got married and have children now, and I feel like a father figure to them all. It feels nice to have affected their lives in such a positive way," adds Lee with a smile.
Lee has a private institution in Kamanahalli. Apart from teaching taekwondo and other forms of self-defence, he also conducts fitness and weight-loss programmes.
"With the schedules that people have here, it's hard to control food intake. And crash dieting only slows down metabolism. At my institution and otherwise, I encourage heavy people also to come and learn the art," elaborates Lee.
Lee has been to many places in the country like Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai and Cochin. But he feels that Bangalore tops the lot. To Lee, Bangalore is home.
"The weather here is fantastic; anyone would love the City for just that. This City is a very accepting one and the most hospitable in the country. There's a lot that has changed about Bangalore and much that needs to be done — but this is the City we are in and love to be in," states Lee.
Ask him in detail about the changes he has seen in the City, having stayed here for a while, and pat comes the reply, "The City has become more polluted. The crime rate has increased and there are more rowdy gangs now. There is also more corruption in the society." Lee feels that the younger generation is slipping away from its values.
Lee believes that the Indian way of life is similar to Korean culture, starting from common words in the languages itself, like appa (father) and amma (mother).
"The concept of respect for others and living in joint families are something followed there too. And that is what I love here. The compassion of people is something to cherish and live with," opines Lee. Lee and Elysia used to hang out on MG Road when free but now, they limit themselves to shopping in Kamanahalli itself. "The traffic gets us stressed," Lee explains, to which Elysia agrees.
Lee family also likes to experiment with different cuisines in the City. "We love exploring Indian food. Being in Bangalore, it's mostly South Indian food like idli, vada and sambhar. Spicy food is our favourite and we have experimented with Andhra cuisine too — it isn't difficult for us since our cuisine is spicy as well," adds Lee.
In their spare time, they love mingling with people and perfecting their communication and language skills. "Language is a very important factor in proper communication," believes Lee, who speaks some broken Kannada.
Summing up, Lee says, "We have met people from all across the globe here — there are people from China, Africa, the USA and so many other places. Bangalore is known for its openness and invites anyone and
everyone in."