Ustad Amjad Ali Khan’s sarod, which was damaged due to mishandling by Indian Airlines staff on January 14, has been repaired.
“It now sounds even better than before,” Ustad Amjad Ali said while expressing his gratitude to the Kolkata craftsmen who had repaired it after 10 days of hard work.
The sarod has been with the Ustad for over 25 years. He has played it at music festivals and concerts across the world, winning numerous awards along the way.
The instrument was damaged when the Ustad was on way to Mumbai in an Indian Airlines flight from Ahmedabad. The previous day (January 13), the maestro had performed on his beloved sarod at the concluding session of Ahmedabad’s Saptak music festival. He again played on his repaired sarod recently at the Dover Lane Music Festival in Kolkata.
“It is a miracle that my sarod has been repaired,” he said. “When it was sent to Kolkata for repairs, I had little hope that I will ever be able to play it again. But because of the hard work of Kolkata craftsmen, and the blessings and good wishes of my listeners, my instrument is up and running again.”
The Ustad played on the repaired sarod continuously for four hours during the concluding session of the six-day festival at Kolkata. “I am elated,” he said. “It now sounds even better than before.” The maestro recalled that after playing at Ahmedabad, he had to cancel his next show at Mumbai. “I had no option but to cancel the Mumbai show because my sarod was badly damaged,” he said. “Its skin had come off and its wooden parts had cracked. I had lost all hope of it ever being repaired again.”
But some Kolkata craftsmen, with their skill and hard work, restored the instrument to its original perfection. “I performed at two concerts with another sarod while it was being repaired,” the maestro said. Ustad Amjad Ali is planning to perform abroad next month on his repaired instrument. “When we are touring abroad, we have to deposit our musical instruments with a separate department, called the Fragile and Oversize Baggage department,” he said.
“The department returns our instruments once we reach our destination. But in India we never get such facilities.” He said that every airline in India should also introduce a fragile goods department so that mishaps of this kind could be avoided.
In the last three days, the Ustad has played on the repaired sarod at concerts in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
