How Did She Become Falu the Grammy Award Winner?

Falguni Shah, the 19th Indian to win the Grammy will be Santa's gift to India this month as she tours Pune, Goa, and Mumbai with her music.

Singing came to young Falu as early as when she was six in a hospital recuperating from a bike accident. Falguni took her mother's advice to sing and found that it worked to ebb away her physical pain. Ever since then Falu has never turned away from music.

Here are some revelations that Falu made in an exclusive interview with SheThePeople. Some edited snippets.

Suggested Reading: Grammy Winner Falu On How Motherhood And Her Indian Identity Shaped Her Art

Falguni Shah Interview 

Happy from A Colorful World celebrates expressions of happiness. However, as adults, one is expected to act demurely to be taken seriously. Why do you think the world has a difficult time accepting people who express how they feel? 

They see the world as they are and want people to be like them. If you're not a happy person and you see someone who's too happy you'll go, 'Omg! She's too much! I can't take it!' It's a psychological thing. We should just be the best of ourselves and not worry about how other people perceive us. 

You shared in an interview that Crayons in a box was your way of having a conversation with your son, Nishaad about Racism. You also shared your struggles against being discriminated against for being darker when you were younger. Did young Falu have someone like Nishaad does, who helped her see her worth? 

Yes! I was bullied in India for being a dark-skinned girl. Society favours lighter-skinned girls. People commented, 'no one's going to marry her, look how dark she is!' When you're a child all of these things magnify and make you feel less worthy. When you're developing you obviously don't know what you're going to look like.

I handled all this by making music my shell.  I would sing and immerse myself in music to tackle anything I could not deal with. I would forget about everything else, close the outside world and let my soul sing the purest notes I could think of. 

Regular people channel rage while practicing under such circumstances but from what you just said, you're not channeling rage at all. So how did you reach that point of focus? Because when you're hurt it's difficult to focus. 

Scriptures from Indian Mythology, Mahabharat gave me strength. Arjun was my favourite character. Every time Drona would ask, 'What do you see?', Arjun would say 'I see the eye of the bird'.

That was me. I could turn every negative energy into a positive one with my music because of Arjun. 

There have been criticisms of the Grammy for being racist. As the only Indian woman who has been the Governor of Grammy's do you see any change happening in the coming years toward racial tolerance and recognition? 

Yes! If there is one organisation that is trying to change, bring diversity and be inclusive, it is the recording academy. They are trying so hard to embrace people of different ethnicities and to have them be a part of this organisation. I've been seeing firsthand how so many people who were not essentially considered for nominations, are being nominated now. 

You come from a liberal family that encouraged the study of Music. However, coming from India you're probably aware that not a lot of children are as privileged. Music being art that requires 'rewaaz' and much practice from a young age, what would you say to these children who wish to realise their dreams in music but are not encouraged to? 

Now that I'm a parent, I know as a parent why parents say being a musician is not a secure job. They're right, I wasn't secure as a musician. I took the biggest risk by not going into medicine or by not doing law. I didn't know where my next meal was going to come from. When I was a child and my mother supported me, my father was hesitant. My dad told me that music is not going to pay my bills. And it did not. 

Initially, I had to do two jobs. I worked in a TV shop selling TV and cell phones. I would get $15 as a commission if I sold a cell phone. So I made a living out of that and I taught music. So when parents say one should have a backup plan. They're not wrong. 

Now let's understand the child's view. Children are talented and have the potential to become whoever they want to be. So how do we balance these two views? Because both of them are right.

Was I wrong in not having a B.Sc? Now that I have a Grammy, no. If I had not made it to the top, maybe I could have considered other careers. 

If you can do music full time, support yourself doing odd jobs and keep making as much music on the side to make it to the top, then you should. If you don't have a secondary source of income when you're starting, then start teaching music to make money. It is not a guaranteed career, but I would say you have to try it otherwise you will live with regrets. If you fail, at least you'll fail knowing you tried. 

Your son is fairly young, do you think he understands that his mum is a global sensation? Do you ever find him asking you why you're being talked about? 

I sing a lullaby every day for my son. We share an incredible bond over music. He learns music from me. He even did a chilla and sang yaman one night.  When he comes with me to the Grammy's or other similar high-profile events he understands that his mum is a different person. He's observant and asks me why I said something to someone. I tell him that words are powerful. 

He sees that I'm a very positive and giving person when I'm teaching because I'm trying to emulate my teachers. 

He's shy and young so he doesn't understand the extent of things. He went to school and was cheered by his friends for holding a Grammy. He got embarrassed as he didn't understand why he was being congratulated for something he didn't win. For him, a Grammy is just another trophy like one win at school soccer or tennis. And I tell him it's the same and mummy has scored a goal. So he thinks that it's a game and it's not that big of a deal. Probably when he grows up to be a teenager he'll understand that winning a Grammy is different from a soccer goal. 

In Falu's Bazaar, you collaborated with your husband and mother and it got nominated for the Grammy. Are such family productions coming up shortly again? 

Yes, it will keep coming up. My son is coming to India with me he asked me if he could sing a Gujarati song in my show. He never wants to sing publicly so I asked him why he wanted to sing. He said that he knows I feel happy when I sing here so he wanted to see how he felt. So I told him if the audience allows it, he can sing since it's a homecoming event. 

You speak so fondly of your first time. How did you feel getting up on stage for the first time? 

My Gurujis never allowed me to sing when I was young. I never even saw a microphone when I was young. They placed a lot of importance on rewaaz.  When you sit on a stage, the stage should vibrate. 'Itni tayari honi chahiye!', my Gurus would tell me.

I would get so tired post my practice session that I didn't even have the voice to ask my mum for food. I'd only be able to communicate the same with my gestures. 

Then one day when I was 18, my Guru asked me to sing for a recording. I was nervous about singing a solo. It was a Gujarati folk song. I did the song in one take. I didn't even look at the microphone the first time I held it. I just closed my eyes, pictured my Gurus, and sang. 

How quintessential would you say Indian classical music and the Guru-Shishya parampara have been to shape who you are today? Do you see yourself winning a Grammy without it? 

Absolutely not, I had no path. If I did not have Indian classical music, I had no future in music. 

Indian classical music is so raw. Indian ragas are so ancient, about 3000-4000 years old. They are so well thought out. If you sing the morning Raga in the morning, you will find peace for moving forward with your day. The afternoon raga Bheem Palas will leave you with a sense of relaxation to sing in the evening. If you sing Yaman in the evening, you won't be tired any longer and will find more energy to sing at night. The Ragas are a gold mine for me. I draw from it. 

If I want to do rap or hip-hop, I can do that with my Indian music. We already have the same scales as western music in Indian classical. For instance, if I want to do a nostalgia-themed song while collaborating with a pop artist, I can easily draw from any of the Ragas for nostalgia.   

Every artist faces hardships in their career. Did you have a moment where you second-guessed yourself and your passion for music? What anchored you during the time? 

My Gurus. I got lucky with them. And I hope every child doing music gets lucky like me.  My Guruji Ustad Sultan Khan Sahab would come to visit me and stay in my one-room dorm.  There were times we ate rice and beans because we didn't have money, we only had three dollars. We fed the same to him. 

I would ask him how it would work out because no one knew me here. One time in fifteen years after watching me complaining and whining, he said to me "Beta, tum heera ho, tum chamkogi, tum karti jao, Allah ke liye gao, sabko bhul jao." Somebody has to say that to the child. He said this to me when I was selling TVs. He assured me and held my hand. Musicians can be very sensitive. We're humans. 

While some would say that criticism is important to reflect on one's art and create better art, there is a lot of criticism that is not constructive. So how does Falu deal with negativity and hate comments? 

I got 400 hate comments when I won the Grammy. There was also so much racial discrimination. I found solace in music. I would just ignore such comments. Sometimes I would laugh at how ignorant people could be. I would never stoop to surrounding myself with such energy.

What is next for Falguni Shah, the Grammy Award winner? Is she currently working on a project right now? 

Oh yeah, there's an album in making and I'm already writing. It might be out sometime next year.