B’luru musician loses decade-old ghatam to poor baggage handling

Leading percussionist Giridhar Udupa’s ghatam broke into pieces during baggage handling on a flight from Bengaluru to New Delhi
last week.

The Bengaluru artiste shared the incident and the airline’s slow response on Twitter on August 13, calling it “the most shattering
experience” of his life.

An ancient Indian percussion instrument, ghatam is a clay pot with a narrow mouth. To prevent any damage, Udupa says he carries it in a special box that is cushioned on the inside and has a fragile sticker on the outside. A traditional ghatam can cost between Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000.

Udupa recalls what happened when he landed in New Delhi to perform in a concert with Grammy award-winning Ricky Kej: “I have travelled the world with my ghatam. Out of habit and to be at peace, I check the instrument at the airport when I land. But this time, I let out a scream looking at the condition of the ghatam.”

It was broken badly, which, he says, is possible only if the handlers of IndiGo, the airlines he flew with, meddled with it.

He alleges the airline did not respond to his complaint for 72 hours, after which, he decided to narrate his ordeal on Twitter. His tweet has received over 4,613 likes and 177 comments since.

“The airlines offered me a voucher (to buy a new ghatam) but I wanted to tell them it is not about money. It is about the importance of an instrument in an artiste’s life. I had played that ghatam for 10 years. A seasoned instrument is not the same as a new one,” says Udupa.

He hasn’t yet redeemed the voucher worth Rs 3,000.

Unlike popular instruments like the guitar and drum, there are not many manufacturers for the ghatam. “The authentic ghatam is made only by a family in Manamadurai, Tamil Nadu. Luckily one of my students was in New Delhi and I could borrow a ghatam from him in the nick of time. Or, it could have impacted our concert,” he shares.

Embarrassingly, the airline called Udupa ‘Mr Ghatam’ is responding to his tweet. “This shows how much they know about this instrument,” he laughs. He is quick to add that the social media post has created awareness about ghatam and people want to learn to play it.

He has put the incident behind him but hopes “such mistakes are not repeated.”