New Delhi: Sitarist Anoushka Shankar’s plea for help after she lost her luggage in Berlin caught the attention of many social media users, who helped her source “mijraab, make-up and more” and attend her sold-out concert at the Berlin Philharmonic. Saved the program.
It all started when Shankar, who was in Berlin on Wednesday for the final performance on his Europe tour, lost his luggage which included all his clothes apart from his “super casual travel gear”, but more importantly, That of their ‘mizrab’ – a custom-fitted finger pick or plectrum.
“Help!!! If someone plays sitar in Berlin and has a mizrab I can borrow for my show tonight?! And is there any better outfit than my super casual travel gear?! Lost luggage found again Went!” Shankar wrote on the X, tagging KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
According to her website, the 43-year-old daughter of musician and sitar player Pandit Ravi Shankar was on tour in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Social media networks came into action.
Some people contacted their contacts in Berlin to offer help and there were some who suggested shops selling Indian clothes in Berlin.
However, there was no further communication from Shankar till Thursday midnight, when he put up a post on Instagram.
The concert took place, and was apparently a success.
Shankar posted a picture of himself wearing a beautiful black dress and holding a sitar, and thanked Saurabh Shekhar Verma for the borrowed mijraab and social media at large for spreading his request on various platforms.
“How stormy it was from the moment we arrived in Berlin to the last date of our tour! Yesterday’s airline-carried suitcase containing my sitar kit, including mijraab, in-ear monitors, as well as all my show outfits and makeup, was a very dirty day. Get started!
“It doesn’t matter though, because in true anarchic by-hook-or-by-crook tour fashion we got a locally owned mijrabah, makeup, and more to take the stage for our sold-out show at @berlinphil Did,” said the London-based musician.
He said that despite the inevitable stress of it all, “how beautiful it is to have a team and a broader community that come together so quickly for a common goal”.
Acknowledging the power of social media, he said he was surprised by how quickly his “cry for help” was tagged and reshared.
“And what a special show it was – there was no time to settle down or get comfortable. We played at full strength last night, enjoying the energy of our incredible, generous audience, so alert, so sensitive to each other. I ‘I’ll never forget this. Special congratulations to @saurbhshekharv for the borrowed mizrab – I wouldn’t have been able to play properly without it!’ she wrote.
Had it not been for social media, Shankar quipped that he had planned to use “duct tape, a roll of wire and small pliers” to create the makeshift mijraab.
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