Date:
Venue: Jom Jom Malay, Ansal Plaza

Malaysia and India have a lot in common. For one, the Malay language or Bahasa Melayu was influenced by Sanskrit. Hence Malay and Indian languages share various words. Further, Malaysia was colonised by king Rajendra Chola of Chola dynasty from Southern India and was part of the belt known as Greater India in South East Asia. Hence, historically there have been many connects. But contemporary Malaysia has a lot to offer as well. The great beaches of Lankawi, crystal blue waters of Tioman, dense picturesque forests of Sarawak, theme park of Genting Highland or the Nonya cuisine of Malacca, the country provides endless flavours to tourists across the world.

Citrawarna, or Colours of Malaysia is a festival curated promote and celebrate Malaysia’s arts, culture, heritage and nature. On since some years, the festival is celebrated all across the globe. It is a particularly inclusive approach so that non Malays get to know more about Malaysia and perhaps visit that wonderful country.

The Malaysian High Commission organised Citrawarna this year on 16th September, 2017 celebrated as Malaysia Day. They collaborated with Jom Jom Malay, a restaurant serving Malaysian food at Ansal Plaza. We felt privileged to be invited for the event.

The evening started with a cultural performance – Joget. It was a host of items comprising music and dance. The performers, all from Malaysia entertained the audience with their mellifluous singing and soft dance movements. The venue was the Ansal Plaza amphitheater and the audience was called on stage to join in the dances. Given that the singers belted out a Bollywood number or two, were Delhi folks were more than happy to shake a leg.

The event had a fun quiz as well. The host asked questions about Malaysia to the house. Even at the risk of sounding a tad pompous, we knew all the answers and won hampers 🙂 during the quiz.

The concluding part of the evening was the Malay buffet spread at the Jom Jom Malay restaurant. We had already dined here and were very optimistic about the place. The spread had baos, curry puffs, fried chicken Malay style with skin, salads, sambals (pickle), flat noodles and more. We did miss nasi goreng (Malay style fried rice) among the items though. No heartbreaks, we loved the coconut cheese cake. for dessert and that compensated.

Malaysia tourism’s tagline “Truly Asia” (we answered this during the quiz) perhaps sums up the country. Their culture is comfortably familiar to ours yet different enough to merit exploration. Traditional yet modern in approach, Malaysia is indeed Citrawarna, a host of colours reflecting brightly from all spectrum.