SSC
Who was the first Indian woman to win a Grammy Award?
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Answer: Option C — Tanvi Shah
Detailed Solution
Tanvi Shah, a singer and songwriter from Chennai, became the first Indian woman to win a Grammy Award in 2010. She won it at the 52nd Grammy Awards for the song "Jai Ho" from the film "Slumdog Millionaire" (2008), in the category "Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media".
She shared the award with:
- R. Rahman, the composer of the song.
- Gulzar, who wrote the Hindi lyrics.
- Tanvi Shah wrote and sang the Spanish lyrics of "Jai Ho" (the part "Escucha mi corazon"), which is why she was among the award winners.
"Slumdog Millionaire", directed by Danny Boyle, won eight Academy Awards (Oscars) in 2009, including Best Picture. A. R. Rahman won two Oscars (Best Original Score and Best Original Song for "Jai Ho", shared with Gulzar), and Resul Pookutty won the Oscar for Best Sound Mixing. At the 2010 Grammys, A. R. Rahman won two awards, for the soundtrack album and for "Jai Ho".
The Grammy Awards are given by the Recording Academy of the United States to honour outstanding achievement in the music industry. They were first given in 1959.
Some other Indian Grammy winners:
Pandit Ravi Shankar: the first Indian to win a Grammy, in 1968 (Best Chamber Music Performance, for "West Meets East" with Yehudi Menuhin). He won several more.
Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt: 1994, for "A Meeting by the River".
Zakir Hussain: several Grammys, including three at the 2024 Grammys.
Ricky Kej: three Grammys (2015, 2022, 2023).
Shankar Mahadevan, Ganesh Rajagopalan, V. Selvaganesh: 2024, with the band "Shakti".
Why not the other options?
- ✗Asha Bhosle was nominated for a Grammy but did not win.
- ✗Anoushka Shankar has been nominated many times.
- ✗Shreya Ghoshal is a famous playback singer but has not won a Grammy.
Quick tip
Remember: First Indian woman Grammy winner = Tanvi Shah (2010, "Jai Ho", with A. R. Rahman and Gulzar); first Indian Grammy winner = Ravi Shankar (1968).
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Firsts in India & World — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Firsts in India & World, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the first persons and events in India and the world: the first Indian to win a Nobel Prize, the first woman to hold major offices, the first to climb Everest or reach space, and India's first institutions, newspapers, railways and satellites. It also covers the largest, longest, highest and smallest records in India and the world. These are pure memory questions, so revise them as short lists by theme: first women, first in sports, first in science and space, and first in governance. Be careful with the exact wording, such as 'first Indian' versus 'first person of Indian origin', or 'first woman President' versus 'first woman Prime Minister', since options are often designed to exploit this. Practise the firsts in India and the world questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.