Veena player Rajhesh Vaidhya, who is currently on a tour of the United States and Canada, is smarting from the fact that a prized instrument is damaged and unplayable.
Mr. Vaidhya was travelling from Dulles International Airport, Washington, to Edmonton in Canada when his 90-year-old veena was lost in transit by a Canada-based airline company.
Later, when it was found and handed over to him, Mr. Vaidhya found it to be badly damaged with a big hole in the ‘kudam’ (resonator) of the instrument and a large crack around its circumference.
The secure enclosure of the instrument remains intact, suggesting that the instrument had been removed from its secure packaging during transit. A post about the damaged veena that is doing the rounds on social media has many musicians commenting about the “indifferent attitude” of the company.
Many instrumentalists from Chennai, who travel frequently, say that the instruments are not damaged during travel, but only during transit at airports.
Chitravina N. Ravikiran recalls that he used to transport the chitravina in a large wooden box in the early 1980s. Later, his musical collaborations and the need he felt for easy transportation of musical instruments led him to invent the navachitravina.
“Apart from a fibreglass case, there is another cover that is put on the box of the instrument to give it an extra layer of padding. I also ensure that I carry a few basic tools so that I can carry out repairs on the instrument if it sustains minor damage,” he says.
“For very large instruments, the Transport Security Administration (TSA) usually places a note in the case after the initial checking, stating that the instrument has already been checked and does not have to be taken out of the case again. If this is not done, it means that the instrument will be taken out at every airport and checked, which might leave it vulnerable to damage,” he explains.
Veena artiste Jayanthi Kumaresh says that the best way to ensure that the instrument is transported damage-free across continents is to book a separate seat where it can be placed on the flight.
“Though it comes with an added cost, it is the safest method. It is often not the fault of the airline staff but the security staff in transit airports who mishandle the instruments when they remove it from the sturdy boxes to check it,” she says.
