Bollywood singer Shilpa Rao’s collaboration with composer-sitarist Anoushka Shankar last year, on the album Love Letters, got her a nomination in the ‘Best Global Music Album’ category for the 63rd Grammy Awards last year. The singer who has given chartbusters like Ghungroo (War), Meherbaan (Bang Bang!), Khuda Jaane (Bachna Ae Haseeno), Ishq Shava (Jab Tak Hai Jaan) among others, recently received the Grammy certificate.

She says, “For somebody who never felt since childhood that she would achieve anything, this was huge. Of course, the Grammy was never on my list, but when I was nominated, I was extremely happy and excited. ”

Shilpa believes it’s persistence that can take an individual a long way. “I think more than talent and hard work, persistence is the key because one has to work hard and never give up even when things do not go your way.”

Shilpa says that she has never looked at her songs as filmi or non-filmi. “Every recording is important to me because I am very emotionally invested in my songs,” she says.

Has the perception of people in the Hindi film music industry changed in any way because she has now got an international recognition? “Well, I have to say that everybody here was quite excited and happy. They were congratulating me from everywhere. Be it Sunidhi Chauhan, Shaan, Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Ravjiani, Shankar Mahadevan, Pritam...everyone. This means a lot to me because I have worked with them, they are my friends and are a part of my life. We congratulate each other whenever we do things and that means so much to us. When I like a song by another musician, I pick up the phone and congratulate him or her. When people around you are happy to see your progress...that’s a very beautiful way of working,” she ends.

(L-R) Ayanna Witter-Johnson (cellist), Shilpa Rao and Anoushka Shankar

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:

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.

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.

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.

Singer Shilpa Rao has added yet another feather to her cap. Anoushka Shankar’s album Love Letters which has been nominated for the Best Global Music Album for this year’s Grammy Awards, also features a track by Rao. And she is absolutely thrilled with this development.

“We have been waiting for this day since quite a while. It has been a long journey for me as well as for the song. It is surreal. I have been trying to pin down one emotion but I don’t know what exactly I am feeling. It has added another thought in my heart that I cannot make any more excuses now. I just have to work harder,” she says.

Rao, whose track, Those Words, was part of Shankar’s album, is happy that Indian music is being recognised globally. “I’ve been learning Indian music since I was a kid and I have no qualms in saying that Indian music is one of the most progressive kinds of music in the world. It’s high time our own youth owns it, listens to it with pride and propagates it. Our youth is still not owning it entirely and they don’t find it cool. When you are born into a family, you inherit the entire legacy by virtue of birth. In the same way, when you are born as an Indian, you inherit the culture, the goodness and all the great things by virtue of being born in India. Sadly, we have not celebrated our music as much as we should have. But I am still hopeful. And with this news, maybe one young kid somewhere will look at our music differently,” adds Rao.

The awards will be announced on January 21, and the singer says that the nomination in itself is an achievement.

“It will be great if we win, and even if we don’t, we will keep doing what we do. Even if my song doesn’t work, it doesn’t throw me off from sitting and doing my riyaaz. I still do it. Failure is inevitable and if you are not facing failure, you are not doing something right. You need to pi** off people, you need to not agree with at least some people because that means you have a unique idea that represents you, and that is what artistes do. Doing something that works is an easy way out but being yourself is the most difficult thing in this world,” signs off Rao.