India shines at Grammy Awards as Shankar Mahadevan, Zakir Hussain win laurels

Los Angeles: Indian musicians Shankar Mahadevan and Zakir Hussain’s fusion band ‘Shakti’ bagged the Grammy’s award for ‘Best Global Music Album’ on Monday. The award was for their latest album ‘This Moment’.

In a picture shared by the Grammys on their official X (formerly known as Twitter) account, Mahadevan and another member of the band, Ganesh Rajagopalan, can be seen accepting the award on stage. “Congrats Best Global Music Album winner – ‘This Moment’ Shakti. #GRAMMYs,” the Grammy wrote in the post.

In an acceptance speech, Mahadevan said, “Thank you boys. Thank you God, family, friends, and India. India, we are proud of you…Last but not the least, I would like to dedicate this award to my wife whom every note of my music is dedicated to.” The musician’s speech evoked a loud cheer from the crowd.

The album ‘This Moment’, released on June 30 last year, features eight songs created by John McLaughlin (guitar synth), Zakir Hussain (tabla), Shankar Mahadevan (vocalist), V Selvaganesh (percussionist), and Ganesh Rajagopalan (violinist). They were nominated for the Grammys with other artists like Susana Baca, Bokante, Burna Boy, and Davido.

Meanwhile, Zakir Hussain also secured the ‘Best Global Music Performance’ Grammy for his contribution to ‘Pashto’ alongside Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer, featuring Rakesh Chaurasia – a virtuoso flute player. While Hussain bagged three Grammys in one night, Chaurasia got two awards.