Drumming up Deepavali cheer for underprivileged youth

It is a rainy Sunday evening at the Sivananda Boys’ Home in Batu Caves. Inside, a group of boys of various ages sit in a circle, each wielding a pair of wooden sticks.

In front of them are an assortment of plastic pails and old paint buckets. But these are no ordinary household items: tonight, they are musical instruments.

As the boys begin striking the containers, the room comes alive with a chorus of rhythmic beats, transforming the humble buckets into an unlikely drum circle.

At the centre of the room is coordinator Naaraayini Balasubramaniam, who guides the young drummers through their performance. She urges some to pick up the pace, while encouraging others to slow down and keep a steady beat.

Before long, the seemingly random clatter of sticks against plastic comes together in a lively, harmonious rhythm.

The boys are rehearsing for an upcoming Deepavali celebration at the home. This is also a culmination of what they have learnt all year at the GoodKids Academy Programme, an initiative aimed at promoting positive mental health.

“This isn’t just about music. It’s about providing these children with a safe space where they can express themselves freely without fear of judgment. This drumming also helps them learn how to set boundaries and how to integrate with others,” Naaraayini, 34, told FMT Lifestyle.

“This performance is a great way to come together during the festive season and show their parents, loved ones and caregivers what they have learnt.”

For Naaraayini, this programme is very much a family affair. She founded the initiative in 2016 alongside her father, Balasubramaniam Somasundaram, and her cousin, Koggelavani Muniandy.

At the time, Balasubramaniam, a counsellor at the home, was looking for ways to better support the boys’ mental health, having realised that conventional counselling alone was not enough to address their emotional needs.

The trio came together to form GoodKids Malaysia. One of its major initiatives, the GoodKids Academy Programme, aims to help young people build confidence and mental and emotional strength to lead an independent and purposeful life.

The programme is now being carried out at about four centres in the country, one being the Sivananda Boys’ Home.

Many of its graduates have gone on to pursue tertiary education, a significant achievement given the educational limitations for children growing up in shelter homes.

According to Naaraayini, participants have performed for Deepavali for several years now. While previous programmes emphasised acting and the performing arts, the initiative has since shifted its focus towards building mental awareness and bucket drumming.

“Bucket drumming helps with emotional regulation. Some of these boys may not necessarily have the words to express what’s inside them, but they can express these feelings through music,” Naaraayini said.

The programme currently relies on funding to provide the boys with free counselling, drum classes and other mental health activities. Their team, however, is still seeking sponsors to help them acquire paint buckets, to be turned into drums.

This year’s batch features about 30 boys from both primary and secondary schools, most of whom are from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

The participants have been juggling their schoolwork, sports and extracurricular activities with the programme’s activities, attending drumming sessions every Friday night.

They have spent nearly a year preparing for the performance, which will take place shortly after Deepavali, as they traditionally return home to celebrate the festival with their families.

The boys are given free rein to compose their own melodies and rhythms. According to Naaraayini, many were bursting with creativity, coming up with surprisingly catchy beats of their own.

Naaraayini said she cannot wait to see the final performance, but more importantly, she hopes the boys carry the lessons they’ve learnt through the programme into their everyday lives.

“My father told me, Deepavali is all about bringing light where there is none. And we hope this programme helps bring some light into their lives,” Naaraayini concluded.

“Some of these boys have had challenging lives. So we want to show them there is always hope, there is always someone who will support and help you.”

Follow the GoodKids programme on Instagram.

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