Song on millets featuring PM Modi gets Grammy nomination

The nominees in Grammy’s best global music performance category are Falu and Gaurav Shah (featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi) for “Abundance in Millets”, Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily for “Shadow Forces”, Burna Boy for “Alone”, Davido for “Feel”, Silvana Estrada for “Milagro Y Disastre”, Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain featuring Rakesh Chaurasia for “Pashto”, Ibrahim Maalouf featuring Cimafunk and Tank and the Bangas for “Todo Colores”.

The year 2023 has been designated as the International Year of Millets, after a proposal for it was brought forward by India and endorsed by the members of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) governing bodies as well as the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly.

“Prime Minister Modi has written a song with me and my husband Gaurav Shah,” Falu had said ahead of the song’s release earlier this year.

“Abundance in Millets” featuring PM Modi was released in June in celebration of the International Year of Millets. The track was created to raise awareness regarding millets as another potential key to minimising world hunger, according to a statement on Falu’s website.

Falu, who received the Grammy Award for Best Children’s Album in 2022 for her album “A Colorful World”, had said the idea to write a song about millets came to her when she met PM Modi in New Delhi last year after her Grammy win.

Excellent effort @FaluMusic! There is abundance of health and well-being in Shree Ann or millets. Through this song, creativity has blended with an important cause of food security and removing hunger. https://t.co/wdzkOsyQjJ

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 16, 2023

She had said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told her that she should write a song with a message on ending hunger during their discussion on the power of music to bring changes and uplift humanity.

Falu had said she had very naively asked PM Modi if he would write the song with her and he had agreed.