As part of the India-wide Great Indian Heritage Walk happening throughout India on the 4th of Nov 2018, a group of international Local Guides in Malaysia had our Diwali Heritage Walk in Brickfields also known as Little India in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Malaysia has a very large percentage of population of Indian descent, and taking part in this larger big event helps us showcase a lot of the heritage and culture of India being a part of the Malaysian life. Brickfields or Little India in Kuala Lumpur (Location https://goo.gl/maps/EKMfU1Hx3rp), is the largest Indian business area in the country, where many Indian based businesses call home. It’s a central location where many Malaysians come and do shopping for Indian based goods and products, as well as possibly the best place to get a great choice of Indian food. This heritage meet up walk was held on the 4th of November just 2 days before the Deepavali or Diwali celebrations. The streets in Little India is lit up, and many vendors have set up stalls all along the road making it an ideal place to walk and visit.
Our meet up event RSVP page: https://maps.google.com/localguides/meetup/kl-diwali-bazaar
[Above] I was joined by Saqib (Pakistan) @Saqis9966 , Saidul (Bangladesh) @Saidulkarim , Ali (Pakistan) @Ahmedalifilms and Ryo (Japan) @Ryo02 . More wanted to join if not for the very heavy rains throughout the evening. It did rain very heavily before our event started, and we had to wait an extra 30 minutes for the rain to slow down.
[Above] First order of the day was to get some tea and coffee as we waited for the rain to slow down. We were fortunate that our meet up location was near to many south Indian restaurants. We sat down, got to know each other, and the great thing about having cultural meet-ups is that in our specific case, many of our participants hadn’t actually visited much of Little India in Kuala Lumpur. So it was really a great opportunity for some of us as well to experience the life and culture here, and in the midst of Deepavali celebration makes it even more valuable.
[Above] After our evening tea, the rain had finally relented and we were off walking throughout Little India. Our original starting point was the Brickfields Fountain (Location https://goo.gl/maps/EKMfU1Hx3rp). It was quite a good place to sit and watch all the hive of activity around Little India as this is located right in the main junction of Brickfields.
[Above] As part of the celebration, the trust heritage committee has also organized cultural shows which included lots of songs and drama as well as speeches. We were excited with the opportunity to be able to join and experience some of these. Music was playing everywhere and it was such an enthralling experience just walking and absorbing all the culture and celebrations.
[Above] All of us at the Brickfields Gate just beside the fountain. It was an amazing structure showing the intricate heritage of Indian art and carvings. This is a fairly new structure and should not be compared to all the historical places of old.
[Above] We walked through the entire length of the area going through the hundreds of bazaar stalls, many selling food, snacks, sweets, clothes, ornaments, decorations, fireworks and much more. And each donning the very special Local Guides tag from Connect Live 2018.
[Above] The 5 of us walking through a stall selling Diwali decorations and ornaments for the home. We were hard pressed to be quick with photos since were we holding up the crowd from walking. It was just too busy and crowded.
[Above] We had spent over 1 hour walking through the bazaar and we had taken quite many photos and videos. It was just such a nice experience for each one of us to spend time with each other. Ultimately, we are friends for life after a meet up like this.
[Above] After all the walking, we were famished. We has stopped by Seetharam Restaurant (https://goo.gl/maps/1gXJsmj6eLp), right in the middle of Brickfields for a quite bite. As part of sharing heritage culture, we had a small feast of Kuttu Roti, Masala Dosa and Tandoori Chicken, with cool drinks. The food was quite tasty and it was the first time for everyone (minus myself) to try the special Kuttu Roti which is masala fried porotta.
By the time we were done, it was rather late. We had decided to call it a wonderful evening and started heading back to our homes. It had been such an amazing evening, and time spent with amazing friends made it even more special. Thanks to the main organizers of the Great Indian Heritage Walk (link here) and special thanks to @AmbrishVarshney for managing the events. And special thanks and congrats to all the other heritage walk events that took place all during this day all over India.
[Below] The below is a short recording of our heritage walk through the Diwali bazaar of Little India.
[+Below and Before that] Before the meet up had started, I had taken a bit of time to walk through the bazaar in anticipation of heavy rains later in the day
See all of you in another post and another meet up. Signing out for now.
Stephen Abraham in Malaysia
