Congratulatory messages continue to pour in for Ricky Kej, composer-cum-music producer, who made the whole country proud by becoming the >first Indian to bag the coveted Grammy in the best new music album category for his album “Winds of Samsara”.
The feat also qualified Ricky, 33, as the “youngest Indian ever to bag Grammy”. “Winds of Samsara” was a collaborative venture with Wouter Kellerman, the famous South African flautist. Even though it has been some time since he received one of the most coveted awards in the world, it still hasn’t sunk in. The Karnataka Chief Minister K. Siddaramaiah, recently introduced him to his entire Cabinet but the composer, who was in Delhi to attend a function celebrating South Africa’s 21 years of freedom and democracy, expressed disappointment with the Central Government ignoring his achievement.He reveals that not a single individual from the NDA dispensation has congratulated him.
But this creative genius — a dental surgeon by education and a musician by choice — is happy that that his dream of bringing together musicians of five major countries on a single platform and make them perform has finally been fulfilled.
Meanwhile, Riki, who describes himself as a “half-Marwari and half-Punjabi”, works for a number of causes. He is trying to create awareness about the killings and homelessness faced by the people living in the conflict-zone of Gaza through his album “2 Unite All” with Peter Gabriel. He would also be travelling to Gaza in August. Described as a true wizard of the keyboard, manuscript page and recording studio, his projects include creating music for 12 albums released by Universal Music and over 2,000 commercials.
Excerpts from an interview:
Bagging the Grammy must have made you proud but also made you more responsible as an internationally recognised musician?
Grammy is like an unattainable dream. The fact that I have won it has still not sunk in. Sometimes I feel happy but most of the time I feel humble. There is more responsibility on my shoulders as I want to work for certain causes like children suffering with autism. These kids have long term memory for melody. If as a musician we can give them one hour a day then they can learn a lot. We have to be patient with them.
How this extraordinary collaborative venture involving 120 artists from five countries, speaking divergent languages, came about?
Music has no language and boundaries. It connects with people of all ages, religious denominations and nationalities. My endeavour was to showcase the talent of musicians from across the globe. Both my parents are doctors and I became a dental surgeon to please them but at heart I have always been a musician. And through music I have been trying to reach out to people.
In “Winds of Samsara” we see influences from South African and Indian folk music. How did this fusion happen? I have always been aware of South Africa’s long and turbulent history and politics but during my long discussion with Wounter, I realised that India and South Africa share so many similarities and it was high time to showcase rich musical traditions and cultural heritage of the two countries.
The commonality between the two nations can be seen as non-violence practised by two of the greatest peace crusaders the world has ever known. Mahatma Gandhi worked for Satyagraha in South Africa and Nelson Mandela was greatly inspired by him. So, in the album, we have featured two children. One child is bullying the other one but instead of resorting to violence the child tries to settle the issue through peaceful resistance very much like Gandhi did. Gandhi had said ‘an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind’. We have tried to propagate peace, love and tolerance through this album.
As a producer it must have been a bold decision to take up such an expensive exercise as it involved extensive travel and plenty of patience and perseverance interacting with musicians of different genres?
For two years I was travelling incessantly. Apart from exploring South Africa, I visited multiple Indian cities to get a feel of the local music of places like the Hindi heartland of Uttar Pradesh. Travelling to Australia, the U.S., France and Bulgaria entailed heavy expenditure and logistics but I did not see the project as a commercial proposition but one that would put world music on the centre stage. This was my 14 album and whatever money I had earned was put into this project.
As a musician how are you trying to provide a healing touch to local inhabitants in Gaza?
My heart goes out to all those suffering people, especially children, in Gaza, which is the largest open air prison. No matter the provocation, killing of the innocent can’t be justified and it is condemnable. Undoubtedly, the Palestinians are suffering but my music is for people living on both sides of Gaza. Of course, the intention behind doing this album is to create awareness among the people across the globe about how thousands of people are being killed and have been made homeless.
Apart from providing a healing touch, I am using music as an instrument to provide financial aid and medical assistance. In August, I plan a visit to Gaza along with other artistes featured in the album.
