Pallabi Purkayastha (BOMBAY TIMES; November 29, 2020)

They say, third time’s the charm, but for sitar player and daughter of legendary late Pandit Ravi Shankar, Anoushka Shankar, the wait has been a little bit longer. In an interview with Bombay Times, the celebrated musician talks about her seventh Grammy nomination for her Extended Play (EP) Love Letters and the jitters she still gets after all these years, how she laughed about being nominated alongside her sister Norah Jones (yet again!) and why her sons thought she is bringing home a new granny! Excerpts from the conversation:

This is your seventh Grammy nomination. What’s the feeling like?
It’s still an absolutely lovely feeling to have my work recognized, and I feel grateful and happy. Every nomination could be a win, so I’ve gotten used to the process of excitement, hope, disappointment and resolution that come with the territory of this strange global awards system. Being chosen as one of five albums from a whole planet’s worth of music is the biggest achievement in itself, but during the gap between nominations and awards, it’s natural to start to hope to win. I try really hard to stay grounded and remember none of it has any true meaning ultimately.

For this EP, you have collaborated with fellow Indian musician Shilpa Rao. How did that come along?
The main collaborator on the EP is my cowriter and co-producer Alev Lenz, who sings on four of the six songs. Shilpa sings beautifully on one song, which is co-written with cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson and the wonderful French-Cuban duo Ibeyi sing on the final song along with me. This music had strong female themes beyond the universal elements of ended relationships and broken hearts, so I was particularly looking for strong female voices to incorporate in the music.

What was your family’s reaction when they heard about your nomination? Do your sons already realise that you are an established musician known around the world?
My sons are just starting to understand this stuff. My eldest son, who’s nine, texted his friends immediately and one of them was very confused that I had won a Granny! My sister Norah (nominated for I’ll Be Gone with Mavis Staples in the Best American Roots Performance category) and I congratulated each other, and laughed at being nominated simultaneously yet again, and my mother was, of course, very proud.