Anoushka Shankar and Arooj Aftab’s performance on the Grammy stage is an interesting first

At the Grammy performance, Shankar merged some of the interludes she played in Bright Eyes – an extremely personal piece that explored infidelity and loss – with some new ideas. Aftab wrote the piece in 2005, with lyrics Ye aine mein chehra mera toh nahi, tum hi dikhayi diye har jagah kahin. The piece describes an ephemeral moment when a past relationship cracks open in one’s head and heart. While Aftab sang in her regular monotonous space that she usually does, Shankar’s strokes were shaky to begin with and then picked up along with the harp and a double bass. This was also perhaps the first India-Pakistan collaboration on the Grammy stage, which makes these five minutes noteworthy. Shankar and Aftab lost out on the hallowed gramophone to Japanese musician Masa Takumi for her song Sakura.

At this year’s Grammys, Shankar was also nominated in the Best Global Music Album category for Between Us – her recent project – comprising her older compositions, reinterpreted in a contemporary orchestral space. The album was recorded in 2018 during concerts in the Netherlands and has a plethora of artistes collaborating with her on music from four of her past solo albums – Rise (2005), Traces Of You (2013), Traveller (2015) and Land of Gold (2016). The nomination was interesting because a live album made it to the list.