Anoushka Shankar misses out on a Grammy.
By The American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: The North Carolina-born, and now Bengaluru-based musician Ricky Kej, 33, won a Grammy for ‘Winds Of Samsara’ in the Best New Age Album category, along with his collaborator, South African artist Wouter Kellerman.
Another Indian American to grab a Grammy was the New York-based Neela Vaswani, in the Best Children’s Album category, for the narration of the book ‘I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up For Education And Changed The World” by Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai.
The website of the Kej’s album describes ‘Winds of Samsara’ as a “truly global effort”, which draws inspiration from two cultures, and symbolizes peace and harmony.
Speaking to the Hindu newspaper from Los Angeles at the 57th Grammy Awards on Sunday night, Kej said getting the award has been “surreal”.
“Getting the award is an unattainable dream. I still can’t believe it,” he was quoted as saying.He said he believed he got the award for music that was “from the heart”.
Vaswani is author of the short story collection ‘Where the Long Grass Bends’, and a memoir, ‘You Have Given Me a Country’. She is the recipient of the American Book Award, an O. Henry Prize, the ForeWord Book of the Year gold medal, the Nautilus Book Award gold medal, an Audie Award, and many other honors.
She also co-author of the novel-in-letters, ‘Same Sun Here’, for children in middle school. She has a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies and teaches at Manhattanville College’s MFA in Writing Program and Spalding University’s brief-residency MFA in Writing Program. An education activist in India and the United States, Vaswani is founder of the Storylines Project with the New York Public Library.
Indian sitarist Anoushka Shankar, daughter of the late sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, missed out on a Grammy. She was nominated for her album “Traces of You” in the Best World Music Album category. The Grammy was awarded to Angelique Kidjo, for her album ‘Eve’.