It was a moment of pride for Indian artists at the Grammy Awards 2024. Not only Ustad Zakir Hussain and music composer and singer Shankar Mahadevan, there was another Indian artist that shone and made the nation proud. He’s none other than Indian flautist Rakesh Chaurasia.

His collaborative album As We Speak was nominated in as many as three categories-Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, Best Instrumental Composition, and Best Global Music Performance. And it won the Grammy in two of them- the Best Contemporary Instrumental and Best Global Music Performance categories.

The album was a collaborative effort by Padma VibhushanZakir Hussain, multiple Grammy Award winners Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer.

Talking about the victory, the flautist told Mid-day, “There’s such a big world of learning here. When you come from the classical genre, you can do as you please on stage. But, when collaborating with Western instruments and musicians from the West, one needs to become better at understanding them. In this album, no dubbing was involved.”

He added, “Everything on the album was recorded live. It’s hard work. We have to practice a lot to think about how we can improve each day. I’ve done many projects, but trying to understand what is being expected of me is interesting.”

Rakesh Chaurasia is a student the nephew of legendary flautist Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia.