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Grammy winner Ricky Kej – Live Concert for You
Ricky Kej LIVE in Chennai in Nehru Stadium
In these Dark Days SHINE YOUR LIGHT!
Don’t forget to tune into a global concert with Ricky Kej on April 22!I
Watch it Live Here!
For Lassi with Lavina readers:
A Special One on One Interview with Ricky Kej
Ricky Kej with Grammy award
1. When did you get interested in environmental concerns? As a child, were you interested in animals and nature, music or both?
I have always been a staunch environmentalist along with being a musician. It was through my music that I fell in love with our natural world and I have always found a deep connection between music and nature. Winning the Grammy Award in 2015 really pushed and inspired me to dedicate my life and my music to the sole cause of Environmental Consciousness.
Ever since then all of my music has been about the environment and raising awareness on climate change. Following this, my epic album ‘Shanti Samsara – World Music for Environmental Consciousness’ was launched by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then French President, Francois Hollande at the United Nations COP21 Climate Change Conference in Paris. It features over 500 musicians from over 40 countries all coming together to celebrate the natural world, and raise awareness on climate change. I am always grateful for these opportunities to be an agent of change, in my own small capacity.
Sharing a copy of Shanti Samsara with His Holiness the Dalai Lama
2. What action would you like people to take on the environment?
There are several factors that contribute to every major environmental issue and all these issues are interlinked. Awareness is key. The onus is not just on politicians, actors and other celebrities to offset their carbon emissions. There are various tools readily available for each individual to calculate their own carbon/water footprint and work towards being carbon neutral.
As consumers, we have to make concrete changes within our own lives to address these issues. We have to change our demands to disrupt the supply chain. What we need is a change in consciousness and behavior. We need to consume less, of everything. We have to vote for leaders who are environmentally conscious and we have to support businesses that are environmentally responsible. Conscious actions such as these will have a ripple effect and will greatly contribute to the well-being of our planet.
3. Right now the world is stressed out about COVID-19. Your thoughts?
My heart goes out to everyone who has been personally affected by COVID-19. Globally, we are working together to defeat this virus and prevail. Every single one of us is making a difference by taking precautions and by helping our fellow human beings during these distressing times.
I salute everyone working on the frontlines to contain the spread of this virus and essential workers who are keeping our societies functioning. I am positive that through rapid intervention, human ingenuity and bilateral cooperation, we will overcome this.
Grammy winner Ricky Kej
4. The concert may be a great way to take people’s minds about Coronavirus – what are you planning to show them?
It is an absolute honour for me to join forces with organizations such as WWF, United Nations Climate Change, UNCCD, UNICEF, UNESCO – MGIEP and the Earth Day Network to perform this mega-concert online to support the World Health Organization (WHO) and the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. We have high profile speakers such as Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (The Director-General of the World Health Organization) talking about preventive measures to avoid COVID-19.
I do my best to keep my concerts entertaining, visually engaging and thought-provoking. All my songs are about protecting and nurturing our environment and other social issues. I will take our audience on an immersive high energy musical journey while leaving them with a greater appreciation of our planet. This concert will be showcased live on multiple streaming channels on Earth Day (22nd April). I will be joined by 44 fantastic musicians from 6 countries and this includes 5 Grammy® Winners.
Ricky Kej LIVE in United Nations Headquarters Geneva
5. What do you hope to achieve with the concert?
Live concerts allow me to inspire change through the emotional language of music. It allows me to connect and interact directly with my audience and to ensure that they leave my concerts with a renewed love for our planet and hope.
It is always an amazing feeling to realize that I have succeeded in emotionally connecting with them through my music, and hopefully, through that connection they become more conscious of our environment and for sustaining it. Now more than ever, we need to relook and reassess our relationship to our environment and other species. We have to understand that we are all a part of an intricate web and our actions can affect this in more ways than one.
6. The world is in a difficult spot right now – your message to viewers?
I urge everyone to follow the official guidelines, take preventive measures etc to stay safe. We can only overcome this if we all work together. This is the time to reconnect with loved ones, to re-establish our relationship with the natural world, reflect on our priorities and to learn from this experience.
I am positive that we will ride out the storm and we can achieve absolutely anything that we set our minds to if we decide to work collectively and efficiently as a species.
With the Former Secretary General of UN – Ban Ki Moon
Lavina Melwani is a New York-based journalist who writes for several international publications. Twitter@lavinamelwani & @lassiwithlavina
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