Multiple Grammy-nominated musician Anoushka Shankar, a British-American sitar player of Indian descent, has called out Air India. She recently took to Instagram to show her damaged sitar after a flight with the airline. Despite paying a handling fee, she discovered her instrument had cracked, which naturally left her fuming. Here’s what happened.
Anoushka Shankar Calls Out Air India After Sitar Arrives Damaged
Anyone would have been frustrated if they found their most prized possession damaged. This is what happened to Anoushka Shankar, a sitar player and the daughter of legendary Ravi Shankar. She uploaded a video of her damaged sitar on Instagram and wrote, “Devastated and truly disturbed by @airindia’s treatment of my sitar. How on earth does damage like this happen without willful disregard?”
In the video, Anoushka told her followers that at first, she thought her sitar was “really out of tune.” But after she tuned it and picked it up, she realised the instrument was badly damaged. A deep crack was visible. She also said it was her first time flying with Air India in a very long time. She said, “How have you done this? I have special cases, you charge a handling fee, and yet you have done this.”
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Fans React With Anger
Anoushka also bashed Air India, saying, “You are the country this music belongs to, and this is the first time anything like this has happened to my instrument in 15 or 17 years.” She further added, “It seems an Indian instrument can’t be safe with them- after all the thousands of flights taken on other airlines without even a peg going out of tune.”
Her fans and followers were equally angered. One of them wrote, “This is unbelievable. How terribly @airindia must’ve handled the sitar for this to happen inside those secure hard cases!!??” Another added, “@airindia, how dare you!! You have no idea the hours and weeks and money we spend making sure these irreplaceable sitars are safe. Truly shocked and saddened by this.” One comment read, “This is heartbreaking. I’m so so sorry.”
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Anoushka Shankar’s experience with Air India was definitely not what she expected. Have you ever faced a similar situation with any airline? Do share it with us.
Cover Image Courtesy: Anoushka Shankar/ Instagram
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