Ukraine's Zelensky appears in taped video at Grammys
The Hindu
"What is more opposite to music? The silence of ruined cities and killed people"
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise appearance at the Grammys on Sunday, urging support for his country and asking the industry's top artists to "fill the silence" brought by war with music.
Mr. Zelensky delivered his pre-taped message ahead of a performance from John Legend of the song "Free," joined by Ukrainian singer Mika Newton, musician Siuzanna Iglidan and poet Lyuba Yakimchuk.
"What is more opposite to music? The silence of ruined cities and killed people," Mr. Zelensky said.
"Our musicians wear body armour instead of tuxedos. They sing to the wounded in hospitals, even to those who can't hear them. But the music will break through anyway."
"We defend our freedom to live, to love, to sound," he said.
"On our land, we are fighting Russia, which brings horrible silence with its bombs. The dead silence. Fill the silence with your music, fill it today to tell our story."
His appearance on music's biggest night in the United States comes as global outrage at accusations of Russian war crimes in Ukraine mounts, with the discovery of mass graves and corpses in towns near Kyiv.
In 2021, five women from Mayithara, four of them MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers, found a common ground in their desire to create a sustainable livelihood by growing vegetables. Rajamma M., Mary Varkey, Valsala L., Elisho S., and Praseeda Sumesh, aged between 70 and 39, pooled their savings, rented a piece of land and began their collective vegetable farming journey under the Deepam Krishi group.