This story is from November 19, 2018

Musician accuses airline of damaging his sitar

Musician accuses airline of damaging his sitar
Bengaluru: For Indian classical musician Shubhendra Rao, sitar was his prized possession which he used to “take care like a child”. When he recently embarked on a journey from Sidney to Delhi, he did take all the possible precautions— kept the musical instrument in an unbreakable fibre glass box and then wrapped it using a rexin cover with thin padding.
But when he got the baggage back, he was in for a rude shock. The sitar was broken badly and was in an unrepairable condition.
Rao, 53, from Bengaluru currently lives in New Delhi and is a disciple of Pandit Ravi Shankar.
On September 24, Rao travelled in an Australian Airline from Sidney to Delhi via Bangkok. The last segment of the flight from Bangkok to New Delhi was on Jet Airways, which damaged his sitar, he alleges.
His compares the loss of the instrument to that of his third hand. “I had taken care of it like my own child so far. Is it not the responsibility of the airlines to ensure that it’s given back properly? If treated well, it wouldn’t have damaged but when there’s vandalism involved, nothing can save the fragile instrument,” says Rao.
When he contacted the Australian airline, he was asked to contact the second airline for queries. However, Jet Airways said no compensation could be paid. “All the fragile baggage accepted on board are tagged with a ‘limited release’ tag which indicates that the airline has no liability in the event of damage to the article. The article is not accepted till the guest sign the tag which you also did,” Jet Airways had told Rao on September 28, a copy of which is with TOI.

However, Rao wrote back to the airways stating that he did not sign on the tag as mentioned. In his online petition filed through Change.org on November 14, Rao also questioned the ‘limited release’ form that airlines make artists sign to evade responsibility for any damage to instruments.
“The airline industry must change ‘limited release’ rule in the case of musical instruments. I’m neither the first person nor the last artist who would suffer in the hands of airlines,” he says, urging artists to stand up together to fight for a common cause.
The cost of making a new sitar with in-built microphone would cost no less than Rs 1.8 lakh as per the estimated bill he has produced before the airlines. Rao is also contemplating approaching the consumer rights forum.
Compensation likely
When TOI contacted, Jet Airways said the matter is being reviewed. “The team concerned has initiated investigation and noted that the item was tagged as LRT (limited release) when the guest originated his journey from Sydney. Jet Airways is considering a compensation, pending submission of original bill/purchase receipts. With the matter under review, the guest will be updated directly by the airline on the status,” it stated.
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