
When he was 21, Bengaluru-based Ricky Kej graduated as a dentist. That done, he kept the degree aside, and took to making music. Twenty years later, at 41, he is an internationally acclaimed composer, and the only Indian to win the Grammy thrice. Not just that, Kej is the youngest person of Indian-origin to have ever won the Grammy.
While Kej’s first Grammy was in 2015 for the album Winds of Samsara, seven years later, in 2022, he bagged his second Grammy, along with Scottish American rock legend Stewart Copeland. Recently, Kej won his third Grammy for Divine Tides, which includes nine songs and eight videos featuring artists from around the world.
Edited excerpts from an interview:
Q/ Your third Grammy! Did you expect this?
A/ The nomination itself came as a huge surprise to all of us. It is always very surreal to live through the moment of winning another Grammy. It has been a week now and congratulatory messages are still pouring in from family, friends, and well-wishers. I am extremely grateful for all the love and I am incredibly thankful for having had another opportunity to make my country proud again on the biggest platform in the world for music.
Q/ You were nominated against Christina Aguilera [American singer-songwriter], for a category that cuts across genres. How did that feel?
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 26, 2023 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 26, 2023 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول

TAKING WINGS AGAIN
Telangana plans to redevelop Warangal's Mamnoor airport, built by the Nizam and destroyed by the Indian Air Force during Hyderabad's annexation in 1948

Identity tracking
Without reading like a tutorial, The Tamils gives a comprehensive account of the community's history and culture

THE ART OF WINNING
The real drama of the Oscar race happens before the envelope opens

Kala cotton is pure magic
One of the greatest things about being a fashion journalist in India is that you are never just one thing. Your stories can take you to glamorous fashion weeks across the world, and they can also take you to the remotest parts of India, allowing you to tell stories of people whose voices have been quietened. Like the farmers of the indigenous kala cotton plant.

Revival mode
Jitendra Patwari has set off a generational shift in Madhya Pradesh Congress

No freedom in appeasement
Fearsome gods and kings are appeased, not opposed. Through history, this ingrained placatory habit is ordained by all religions and cultures.

NIA WILL TRY RANA FOR CHARGES THAT HAVE NOT BEEN DISCLOSED
A high-profile lawyer, Ujjwal Nikam has argued crucial cases for the government. He was special public prosecutor in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case and the 26/11 attacks case. His arguments led to the conviction of terrorist Ajmal Kasab, who was executed in 2012.

Men, too, have glass ceilings
The more I read about rape, suicide, family troubles, unemployment, toxic masculinity, excessive religiosity and hysterical jingoism, the more I feel we have got hold of the wrong end of the stick.

Jumbo love
Laxmi, once forced to beg on Mumbai streets, found home and freedom at the Wildlife SOS - Elephant Conservation and Care Centre in Mathura

THE DEVIL AND THE DETAILS
The extradition of Tahawwur Rana, whom US President Donald Trump called a \"very violent man\", could tie loose ends related to 26/11 and lead to the uncovering of valuable intelligence on attacks planned on India thereafter