Grammy nominee Falu: Got most recognition when I’ve embraced my roots

Falu shares her third Grammy nomination with two people Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and her husband singersongwriter Gaurav Shah A song based on millets will contend for the Best Music Performance title at the biggest awards night for the music industry and will compete with Zakir Hussainrsquos Pashto for the titleIn this interview she discusses joining hands with Modi for the song Abundance in milletsEdited excerpts from the interviewHow has the atmosphere at home been since this Grammy nod is for both your husband and youItrsquos so special because the Grammys is the biggest institution for recognising musicians across the world and they invest in retaining their excellence My husband is also tremendously excited because the category that wersquore nominated in is big Itrsquos global music so we are looking forward to seeing how it turns outCan you take us back to the conversation you had with our PM Narendra Modi when you met him in New Delhi and he encouraged you to write a song on milletsIt started with me winning the Grammy the last time He tweeted about it My husband woke me up at 2 am telling me about his tweet When I was touring India in December I got an email from his office for a 20minute interaction We talked about the power of music and how it can transform lives Our PM understands the power of music He wanted the message of the benefits of millet to reach the world It has nutritional qualities and can also be grown in droughtprone areas He told me in Gujarati lsquoBeta you write a song on itrsquo Irsquove written songs on love and kindness but I wondered how Irsquod write on grain So I asked him if hersquod write it with me And he said lsquoYesrsquo So there I wasmdashready to write a song on millets with the Prime Minister of IndiaHow did it proceed from there How involved was he in the processBefore I could even arrive in Mumbai from Delhi I had a book on the nutritional value of millets from the agricultural department of India in my apartment It was fast I did my research It took me around four months to come up with an English and Hindi part and then he contributed to it immensely Itrsquos his vision and brillianceWe went back and forth Irsquod tell him I would need him to write five lines or seven lines and then see how we could use the music Even though he was busy I would get an answer from his team each time There would always be feedback and suggestions on what to change After his approval of every section we finalised the songHave you spoken to him since the nominations were announcedI spoke to the office I was shaking when I called I was so excited I told them wersquove been nominated They were like lsquoFor whatrsquo Irsquom like for a Grammy The office was just as surprised as we were They gave him Modi the message and he sent his blessings It was his baby so if he is happy that means a lot to usWersquove interacted with you year after year as you continued to earn nominations How important is a nomination after yoursquove already earned two and won one titleEvery nomination is Godrsquos blessing Irsquom a religious person Everything that Shiva or Ganeshji give me is a prasad I feel humbled Just because I have three nominations doesnrsquot make another less specialThere are so many Indian musicians among the nominees this year As an Indian artiste living on international shores have you felt a shift in the conversation around Indian musiciansAbsolutely And the more we embrace our roots and our heritage the more recognition we get in the West That is what is recognised here If you feel a certain way go and deliver Indian music is very rich We have great melodies in folk and ragas in classical music In my experience the more Irsquove embraced my roots the more recognition Irsquove gotten in the world