11 November,2023 04:19 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Narendra Modi with Falu Shah, Gaurav Shah
Grammy 2024 Nominations were announced on Friday. Indians were in for a major surprise as Narendra Modi-written song, Abundance in Millets, made it to the Best Global Music Performance category. The song is created and also features Indian-American Grammy-winning singer Falu and her husband, and singer Gaurav Shah. Abundance in Millets was released in June as the Prime Minister declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets.
Abundance in Millets by Falu and Gaurav Shah will compete with Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily's Shadow Forces, Burna Boy's Alone, Davido's Feel, Silvana Estrada's Milagro Y Disastre, Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain ft. Rakesh Chaurasia's Pashto and Ibrahim Maalouf ft. Cimafunk & Tank and the Bangas' Todo Colores.
The song features portions of PM Modi's speech while inaugurating the Global Millets (Shree Anna) Conference in March this year. He can be heard saying, "I am glad that today, as the world is celebrating 'International Millet Year', India is leading this campaign."
In a previous statement to PTI, Falu said, "Prime Minister Modi has written a song with me and my husband Gaurav Shah." Her website stated, "On June 16, 2023, Falu and Gaurav Shah released the track 'Abundance in Millets' featuring the Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi in celebration of the International Year of the Millets." The statement also read, "Abundance in Millets' was created to raise awareness of the super grain as a potential key to reducing world hunger."
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Falu won the Grammy Award for Best Children's Album in 2022 for her album A Colorful World. In a statement, she said the idea behind Abundance in Millets came to her after she met PM Modi in Delhi after her Grammy win. Implementing the suggestion offered by the Prime Minister to write a song with a message on ending hunger, she revealed that they had a discussion on how the power of music can bring change and uplift humanity.
Sharing Abundance in Millets song on X, Falu had tweeted, "Abundance in Millets is a song inspired by PM @narendramodi's proposition to the @UN to declare 2023 as the International Year of Millets. Honored to collaborate with him, write a song to promote millets, help farmers grow it & help end world hunger."
Replying to the tweet, PM Modi wrote, "Excellent effort @FaluMusic! Shree Ann or millets contain an abundance of health and well-being. Through this song, creativity has merged with an important cause of food security and hunger eradication."