Quis ut Deus

Jeevam Joseph Arulanandam was born in Amirthakali, Batticaloa into a musical family. Since his early childhood, he had great interest in anything related to music. As a young boy, he started to play numerous musical instruments. Music was his passion and been part of his life.

When he was a student at St.Michael’s College, he was a member of the college band, acted in many dramas and won many awards in musical competitions in Sri Lanka. In 1960, he along with his brothers Gunam Joseph, Gnanam Joseph and Yogam Joseph got together and formed a band under the banner “Jeeva Gaanam” which was the first Tamil band in Batticaloa.

He composed many songs including the most popular “Meen Makal Paadukiraal” which was written by “Unnarchi Kavignar” Kasi Anandan and considered as the anthem of Batticaloa. The other popular ones are “Akkachi Akkaci”, Aalaiyadi Cholaiyada” and Kottamunai Paalathiley Kachaan Kaathadi”.

He enrolled at Annamalai University in India and successfully completed is degree in classical and carnatic music. Soon after his return from India, he taught music at St.Cecilia’s Convent and Vantharumulai Central College in Batticaloa for a short period of time before he was appointed as a music teacher at St.Michael’s College in 1974. He served as a dedicated teacher at the college until his retirement in 1999. Even after retirement, he continued to train the band at the college voluntarily.

During his tenure at St.Michael’s college, he re-formed the Western Band which performed at many significant events in the country such as the Non-Aligned countries conference in 1976, National Expo in 1992 and many more. He maintained the standards of the band to the highest level and the college band was considered as one of the best in the country. His philosophy to the students was ‘Perfection is expected, but excellence is accepted.’ This taught the students never to settle for mediocrity, to always strive for the best. He also trained the bands from other schools in Batticaloa area. In the 90’s, he played a vital role in establishing the Eastern Band at the college and also translated the college anthem into Tamil.

Apart from his teaching career, he continued to perform with his band “Jeeva Gaanam” with his brothers and students. He also performed at the “Thamil Aarachi Mahanaadu” which was held in Jaffna in 1976. He was honoured with several awards namely, “Thenaka Kalai Chudar”, “Isai Perozli” and “Kalabhusanam” by the Government of Sri Lanka. He is also a great sculptor and statue of Rev.Fr.Bonnel at the college front yard is a creation of Jeevam Joseph.

Currently he is enjoying his retirement by doing social work in his area and at the “Kappalenthiya Maatha Church in Amirthakali. He is happily married to his wife Yaalini Joseph for more than 30 years and they both are blessed with a son Emil Joseph who is like his father composing music in his spare time. We the Past Pupils’ Association of St.Michael’s College, Batticaloa, North American Chapter wish him all the best.

Music Legend of Batticaloa