NEW DELHI: Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan finds himself in a pickle as his troupe has to perform at a concert in the US on Saturday, but all their musical instruments have gone missing after they travelled on a British Airways flight.
The composer and his team, currently on a musical tour in the US, have appealed to the airline to locate them on priority as they are urgently required for a concert.
Six musical instruments are yet to reach his troupe, which includes his sons Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash. This marks the second time the airline has misplaced them, with a similar incident taking place in 2014 when his prized sarod (which he called Ganga) went missing for 48 hours after he travelled from London to Delhi. It was eventually tracked.
The official website of the musician states that a concert is scheduled to take place at Montalvo Arts Center Carriage House Theatre in Saratoga, California, on November 14.
The ongoing concert tour is scheduled to take place over five days spread across October and November. Two other concerts follow the immediate one, on November 21 and November 22.
Khan put out a series of tweets on X on Friday morning, reaching out to the airline. He posted, “We are currently on a tour in the US, and our musical instruments are essential to our performances. We urgently need our six delayed baggage pieces containing our instruments delivered ASAP.”
He followed this up with another post: “Please treat this as an urgent priority, as our upcoming performances and professional commitments depend on them. We request your immediate attention and assistance in locating and delivering our baggage. Please help us resolve this urgently @British Airways.”
Fans of his music responded to his post, urging the airline to help out. One of them tweeted to former British PM Rishi Sunak to intervene with British Airways to get back the instruments.
Responding to the incident, a British Airways spokesperson said, "We are in direct contact with our customer and are doing all that we can to reunite him with his baggage at the very earliest. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused."
The airline is notorious for delayed delivery and damage to musical instruments of popular brands. The Staples Jr Singers' guitars were lost and damaged during a London-to-Paris flight last year, while The Bridge City Sinners' instruments were also misplaced this year.