There was a bit of a chase; a call here, a message there and as I googled ‘Tanvi Shah’ like a surprise birthday package, she unfurled into somebody big, huge, super-star-Puff Daddy-like famous, the kind you need to check your breath for before a phone interview or practise lines in the toilet. I did all that and sat down rather nervous, with the phone dialling her number. After all, we are talking about the Grammies here. The rest is history; that she turns out to have a summer-day like personality and an attitude as earthy as her songs.

Tanvi Shah with a bio to be snooty about, is India’s Jai ho girl beginning her journey with Fanaa from Yuva to Slumdog Millionaire via Delhi 6. She has been under AR Rahman’s wing since Delhi 6 and like all prodigies didn’t train professionally in music till after Delhi 6. Bubbles and smiles flow through the phone as we chat about her love for music and stars like Asha Bhosle and Gloria Estefan and her gasps and excitement make the Grammy experience a definite my-rise-to-fame story. “There we were, no expectations one minute and walking on the stage the next. I love living the dream and though I keep telling myself that I need to detach and work ahead, I just don’t feel like waking up.”

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