WEB DESK: Indian sitarist Anoushka Shankar publicly slammed Air India after she found her sitar damaged post-flight.
In a recent Instagram post, Anoushka Shankar shared a video of her sitar (traditional Indian stringed instrument) had a deep crack on it, causing the lower body of the Sitar to split.
Shankar, in rage, expressed that it’s in her 15-17 years of travelling history that her sitar arrived at a destination damaged. She also highlighted that it was her first time flying via Air India, “First, I was looking at the top of my sitar, and I thought it was really out of tune. After I tuned it, I picked it up to play, and that’s when I realised…This was my first time flying Air India in a long time. You’re the country this music belongs to”.
She also revealed that she had packed her sitar in a special case and had paid an extra fee “handling fee,” to ensure the safety of her instrument.
She expressed her disappointment in the caption of the video, saying, “How on earth does damage like this happen without willful disregard? It feels especially sad given that I’ve flown Air India after a long time, and it seems an Indian instrument can’t be safe with them”.
The video and her post drew widespread support from fans, fellow musicians and even other artists.
Comedian Zakir Khan commented, “This is extremely heartbreaking,” while music composer Vishal Dadlani wrote, “God, that’s heartbreaking! I’m so sorry”.
Musician Anvita Shankar added, “This is unbelievable. How terribly Airindia must’ve handled the sitar for this to happen inside those secure hard cases!!?? I’m so sorry”.
