India's Grammy winner talks about an album that has connected with everyone.
Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 13, 2015)

Ricky Kej has just returned to India with a Grammy for Winds Of Samsara, his debut collaborative album with South African flutist Wouter Kellerman which was voted Best New Age Album. If the nomination was a surprise, then the win was a shock. On auto pilot, he stood up and walked up to the stage with Wouter. But in front of the microphone, looking at his idols sitting in the audience, he just blanked out.

"Fortunately, I'd prepared an acceptance speech though I'd never expected to read it. I pulled out the sheet, and reading the lines I'd blocked, remembered to thank everyone who mattered," he says.

Winning music's highest honour is the end goal for many. Having won it at 33 what's next for Ricky? "I'll start something new. I have a few ideas but I'm in no hurry. The Grammy gives me the licence to continue making the same kind of music,"he points out.

The honour has put him in the big league. Won't he want to shift base to Los Angeles where all the action is? Ricky admits that at the fancy dinner on the eve of the awards, he did interact with nominees in the classical and sound engineering departments with whom there was a possibility of a future collaboration. "But my music is predominantly Indian. My studio and my musicians are all here. I may travel to LA more often but I can't see myself living there," he insists.

What about experiments with Bollywood and Hollywood? "Why is it that if you tell anyone you're a musician, you're immediately asked which films you've done?" quips Ricky, acknowledging that films get you money and popularity, but it's not music from the heart. "Baby Doll is a fantastically produced and well sung composition, but it doesn't tell us anything about the Meet Bros, the way an Adele or a Coldplay song would. Sam Smith thanked his ex-boyfriend after winning his fourth Grammy for ditching him because from the break-up Stay With Me was born."

Ricky's biggest triumph is that one of his songs, Hey Hey, Ho has forged a connection with his colleague Vanil's not-yet-two daughter and the 99-year-old mother of a friend in the US. "The baby won't go to sleep without hearing the song. Hey, Hey Ho were her first words. And the grand old lady was singing to it in a video my friend uploaded," he exults, recalling the two-year journey in the course of which Wouter became a grandfather and he tied the knot with Varsha, the percussionist on the album. "Both were life turning events and my changing philosophy and Wouter's new style of flute play, is reflected in the music."

What was Varsha's reaction to the Grammy? "She was really nervous for both of us and when my name was announced burst into tears," he smiles fondly.