[with ARMY ㉓] "They Kicked Me Out of My Room": How BTS Helped Vanshika Find Her Strength

TORONTO — The wait to enter Rogers Stadium was long enough for strangers to become friends.

Standing in line ahead of BTS' "ARIRANG" World Tour concert, K-POPIT met Vanshika, an ARMY from Mississauga, Ontario. She was warm from the start, striking up conversation and soon offering to share her own story. What began as small talk between strangers in a concert line quickly became something more personal.

For Vanshika, BTS had entered her life at a time when simply getting out of her room felt difficult.

Originally from Delhi, India, Vanshika discovered BTS during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Her father had lost his job, and she recalled struggling emotionally as her family went through a difficult period.

"I used to be very depressed. I used to sit in my room and do nothing, not even talk to anyone," she told K-POPIT. "And then suddenly, I used to scroll Reels, and I saw BTS."

One Reel led to another. Vanshika began searching for more BTS content, listening to their music and what she described as their podcasts. Over time, she said, their words gave her the motivation to start pulling herself out of the isolation she had fallen into.

"I started listening to their music, their podcasts and stuff, which motivated me, which kicked me out of my room to get myself strong," she said. "So that's how I follow them."

It was not only the music that kept her interested. Vanshika was drawn to the way the seven members spoke to their fans, particularly RM, whom she admired for his ability to put difficult thoughts and emotions into words.

"For example, Namjoon, whenever he gives any speech or something, he knows how to portray his words," she said. "It's very motivating somehow."

Six years after discovering BTS through her phone, Vanshika was finally about to see them onstage. Getting into Rogers Stadium, though, had nearly become another disappointment.

Vanshika said she spent more than $1,000 trying to attend the Toronto concert and was scammed while searching for a ticket. With the show approaching and still no ticket in hand, she finally managed to secure one just a day before the concert.

That last-minute ticket carried another first. Vanshika had never been to a concert before. BTS would not only be the first group she saw live, but the group she had wanted her first concert to be.

"I have never been to any concert in my life," she said. "This is my dream concert, and this is my first concert, so I'm very happy."

There was one member she was especially eager to finally see: V, her bias. As for the surprise song she wanted to hear that night, she immediately chose "We Are Bulletproof: the Eternal."

"I love 'Bulletproof,'" she said. "It makes me stronger, more stronger, day by day."

There was a fitting contrast between the Vanshika describing herself in 2020 and the one standing outside Rogers Stadium that day. Back then, she said she rarely left her room or spoke to anyone. Six years later, she was waiting for her first concert, surrounded by thousands of ARMYs and comfortably sharing her story with someone she had only just met.

The long wait to get inside had given strangers time to talk. For Vanshika, it also offered a small glimpse of just how far she had come since the day BTS first appeared on her phone.