Second doctorate for Grammy winner Shankar Mahadevan
After being honoured with a doctorate by Birmingham City University last year, Grammy Award-winning musician Shankar Mahadevan receives his second doctorate.
Close on the heels of winning a Grammy Award, composer-singer Shankar Mahadevan has been conferred his second honorary doctorate, by DY Patil University, Navi Mumbai. Last year, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Birmingham City University.
“I feel honoured and humbled. I consider this doctorate a blessing for following my passion, my sincerity and for believing that anything is possible and achievable. This is a very prestigious thing for me. The likes of Brian Lara and Sunil Gavaskar had got it in the past. Main jaanta nahin ki main iss layak hoon ya nahin,” says Mahadevan, who sang Ae Watan (Raazi; 2018) after receiving the doctorate.
Mahadevan went on to thank his “family and colleagues for their constant support”. He added, “This has been possible because of all the wonderful gurus I’ve had. The most important thing to remember when you get an honour like this is that you’re an Indian and you must make your country proud. This honour means that I have to work harder and come up with music that reaches the entire world, especially our Indian music.”
Earlier this year, composer-singer Shankar Mahadevan was elated that his band, Shakti, won the Best Global Album Award for their first studio album, This Moment. Talking to us right after the event in Los Angeles, where he received the Grammy with his bandmates V Selvaganesh (percussionist) and Ganesh Rajagopalan (violinist), Mahadevan said, “When our name was announced, for a second it didn’t register. We were so elated. It’s very difficult to express the feeling.”
What made the achievement more special was representing India at the Grammys. “Being at a place full of world-class international artistes and represent our country, make a mark as Indians and receive accolades made me so happy. I felt proud to represent India, musically,” said Mahadevan, who dedicated the award to his wife, Sangeeta Mahadevan.
