article in The New Straits Times today, November 7th 2007
DENNIS CHUA hears from Alleycats’ David Arumugam and his nephew Vigneshwaran how Deepavali has been celebrated through the years in the Arumugam household.
HAVING lost his younger brother, soul mate and fellow band member Loganathan Arumugam to cancer early this year, Deepavali this year has no appeal for The Alleycats’ frontman David Arumugam.
The loss of a loved one means a toned-down Deepavali back in their hometown, George Town in Penang. Tradition dictates respect for the newly departed.
Nevertheless, David and his brother’s eldest child Vigneshwaran Loganathan, 24, hope to make the Festival Of Lights a day the late singer would have liked it to be, and to spend quality time with the brothers’ 82-year-old mother Meenambal Arumugam.
“Deepavali is the one time each year when the family really gets together. In a spiritual sense, we also ’get together’ with our dearly departed as it is a day of prayer and remembrance,” he said.
“Both of us will be spending about three days in George Town, and as we promised my brother, it will still be an occasion for happiness. After all, the real light of Deepavali is love, and a loving and caring family.”
Reminiscing on the auspicious day during his childhood in the late 1950s, David, 57, said: “The days before Deepavali meant shopping for new, often colourful, clothes in Penang Road.
“We would get to pick the clothes we liked. These, and sometimes new pairs of shoes, would be placed in our bedrooms on Deepavali Day.”
David, the sixth of his parents’ 11 children, also fondly remembers his late grandmother’s traditional South Indian bites.
“Loga and I would cheekily pinch a few of the items we had helped prepare, and she would be rather cross with us. But the next morning, we would be forgiven,” he said.
As David and his siblings were the “little ones", they would be given cash gifts by their parents and adult relatives on Deepavali.
“Now that we are working adults, it is our turn to give to our little ones.”
David said Deepavali also meant waking up very early, at 5.30am, for the traditional bathing ritual.
“The water would be chilly in the early morning. But we had our baths in warm, boiled water.”
Traditional devotional prayers would take place at 6am, after which David’s late father K.R. Arumugam would rub oil and fragrant paste on his children’s foreheads.
“My siblings and I would compare our cash gifts at the end of the day.”
The Arumugam family always distributed cakes, cookies and Indian sweets to their neighbours.
“We would give our neighbours goodies in trays and receive goodies from them. Others would place angpow or sugar on the trays,” he said.
David said the Arumugams were always visited by their non-Hindu friends and neighbours on Deepavali.
“Deepavali in Malaysia is unique in that it is celebrated by everybody, Hindu and non-Hindu alike. Long before the open house concept became popular, we had well-wishers of various races.
“This is what I love most about the Malaysian Deepavali,” he said.
David’s first Deepavali away from home was in 1972, when he and his newly formed band were “suitcase travellers".
“We were then singing in Bangkok, and stayed two years in Thailand. “The band had two weeks of holidays every three months, and going home for Deepavali slowly became a rarity,” he said.
When The Alleycats later became major stars in their home country, David and Loganathan made sure they went home for Deepavali every year, unless they were giving concerts.
“We would celebrate Deepavali by greeting our fans and our loved ones during those concerts. The band would later have a good meal together,” he said.
Human resource assistant Vigneshwaran said his father would follow all Deepavali rituals when the family spent the day together in Penang.
“It used to be and still is the best time for my sister Priyadarshini and myself to catch up with our cousins, uncles, aunts and, of course, our grandmother,” he said.
Vigneshwaran said his grandmother loved to share stories of her children’s childhood with her grandchildren.
The family, Vigneshwaran said, occasionally organised lucky draws to liven up their annual Deepavali celebrations and both young and old had an equal chance at winning.
“One of my fondest memories is when a few years ago, my father showed up at the family home unexpectedly. We thought that he would not be able to make it for the celebration as he had a performance.”
Loganathan . In Memoriam 15th July 1952 - 4th June 2007
Artikel mengenai Pameran Fotografi anjuran NST yang juga mempamerkan gambar klasik kumpulan Alleycats !
ALbum ALLEYCATS yang terbaru, 'Rasa' kini muncul di pasaran ! Hanya berharga RM 36.90, CD ini memuatkan 12 lagu terbaru yang bakal menjanjikan kepuasan kepada anda semua, tak kiralah jenis muzik apa yang anda minati. Perjalanan Alleycats berterusan tanpa ada tanda-tanda akan berhenti. Ini adalah album penuh yang ke 29 (yes, 29!!) bagi David & Loga dengan bantuan teman-teman mereka, Mike, Jimmy, Boy & Naza.
10 minutes with.: Enduring Alleycats finds its 'Rasa' (article in The New Straits Times on 5th August 2006)
THE Alleycats is considered Malaysias longest surviving club band after 37 years in showbusiness. The bands remaining founding members, leader David Arumugam and younger brother Loga, have just released a new studio album Rasa their 29th. David tells AZMAN AHMAD how the group maintains its staying power.
Q: How has the Alleycats survived after all these years?
A: I was born to sing. Performing on stage is an enjoyment to me and Loga. I just dont know what I would do if I were to quit singing.
The fact that people still come to see our nightly performances in clubs and buy our albums is another factor that make us want to continue singing.
The word retirement does not exist in my vocabulary. I guess, I will sing till the day I drop. By the way, I am 56 and Loga is two years younger but what the heck, age is only a number. (laughing).
Q: What do you think of the new bands that are appearing?
A: We have our own distinctive style and our songs have the unmistakable "Alleycats" stamp on them. This is what makes us different from the rest, including the many new bands that emerge from time to time.
In Rasa, there is a balance of ballads and mid-tempo stuff and diehard Alleycats fans will surely like Kasih Tak Kesampaian, which we are pushing for the radio stations to play. Rasa is also the title track in this album, written by M. Nasir, who is responsible for many Alleycats hits.
Q: Do you think Rasa will be another hot seller?
A: We are thankful to our fans who continue to support us. I believe that if Alleycats could not sell, no record company would have signed us up and invested in our albums.
This is our latest album after Tangga-Tangga Ke Pintu Bahagia released two years ago. Our advantage is that we can promote our new songs at the clubs we perform at. It helps to sell our albums besides adding more songs to our nightly repertoire.
Of course, we will do TV appearances and any publicity efforts to promote Rasa. It is unlikely that we will be performing at clubs overseas anymore, as most of our band members are married with school-going children, unless it is a special show like the one we did in London for a private client last year.
In addition to Loga and I, the other members are keyboardist Mike Praven, drummer Boy, guitarist Nazarudin and bassist Jimmy.
ALLEYCATS latest double CD compilation featuring 40 of their Number 1 Hits from a remarkable career spanning close to 40 years in the Malaysian & Asian music industry
