Anoushka Shankar shares video of her sitar damaged during an Air India flight, calling the incident “devastating” and criticizing airline handling.

Anoushka Shankar, a multiple Grammy-nominated sitar virtuoso, has publicly criticized Air India after finding significant damage to her instrument after a recent voyage. The singer said she was “devastated” by how the airline handled her instrument, particularly since she was assessed an extra handling cost.

“How Did You Do This?” Anoushka Posts a Video of a Broken Sitar

On Wednesday, the daughter of renowned musician Pandit Ravi Shankar posted a video to Instagram demonstrating her sitar’s obvious cracks. “First, I was looking at the top of my sitar and I thought it was really out of tune,” Anoushka is heard saying in the video. When I picked it up to play after tuning it, I realized…I hadn’t flown with Air India for a while till now. You are the nation to which this song belongs. My instrument hasn’t experienced anything like this in fifteen or seventeen years.

Also read ; Vicky Kaushal & Katrina Kaif Welcome Baby Boy: Actor Opens Up on Fatherhood

“How have you done this?” she continued, challenging the airline’s carelessness. You charge a handling fee, but you’ve done this in my specific cases?

“Devastated and truly disturbed by @airindia’s treatment of my sitar,” she wrote in her caption, expressing even more dissatisfaction. How in the world does such harm occur without deliberate neglect? Given that I haven’t flown with Air India in a while and that an Indian instrument can’t be safe with them—after all the thousands of flights on other carriers without even a peg getting out of tune—it makes me very unhappy.
Artists and Fans React: “Heartbreaking”

The music community responded to the post right away. “This is really heartbreaking,” comedian Zakir Khan retorted, and composer Vishal Dadlani said, “God, that’s heartbreaking! I really apologize.
The emotional moment is enhanced by new Grammy nominations.

Only a few weeks have passed since Anoushka’s work with Alam Khan and Sarathy Korwar, Chapter III: We Return to Light, earned her multiple Grammy nominations. The project has received a nomination for the 2026 Grammy Awards, which will take place on February 1 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, in the Best Global Music Album category.