Be it a birthday party, a corporate gathering or a product launch, if a magician makes his presence the party spirit multiplies. As the magician waves his wand chanting “Abracadabra”, or “Gilli-gilli-choo”,while trotting out seemingly unbelievable feats, everyone is mesmerized. Whether it is children or adults, one is always fascinated by magic. If one grew up reading the feats of Mandrake the magician, today’s children are fans of Harry Potter.
India, the land of rope tricks, levitation or disappearing acts, among others, is not new to the art of magic. It has been around since time immemorial though as a performing art, it was the kings and the Mughalemperors who encouraged it. Magicians were once household names (see box: India’s magicians). Sadly, today they are reduced to street performers or at best show their skills in various fun-fairs or at events.
A dying art?What is more worrisome is that the art of magic, particularly the traditional Indian variety, is on a verge of extinction in the face of neglect by the government. “In comparison to other countries, India has very little respect for this art. And government too, has failed to do anything for the betterment of magician or to preserve the art. Therefore, the word of magic is disappearing from the main picture,” said magician AshokKharbanda,a well known personality in magic world and also a founder of Indian Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM), a registered society engaged in the uplift of the ancient Indian art of magic, at last month’s Magic Festival held at Delhi Haat.The festival gave Delhiitesa chance to get a first hand experience of these fading magic tricks. At the same time, the festival also provided a chance to peep inside the life of magicians. It posed a question: What is the future of these helpless magicians, who have been abandoned by both government as well as people?
“Whenever our government needs us, they use us. Many a time they take us to perform at international culture shows to represent our country. At that time, they treat us well and provide us all the required facility. But after extracting work out of us they simply abandon us as if they don’t recognise us,” complained V Kumar, also a member of IBM.
From palace to road If one were to dig a little into the past, one would realise that the condition of magicians was not like it is today. Though it has always existed in the country, the arrival of magic in India could truly be attributed to the Mughalperiod. During the tenure of Emperor Jahangir,the famous Indian rope trick was first performed in the palace. “When the rope trick was performed in front of the king, he couldn’t believe it. He was so thrilled with the tricks that he hired the magicians in his Durbar,”explained AshokKharbanda.
Since then magicians, like other artists, became part of the king’s palace. And their sole work was used to entertain the king, queen, guests and common people with their unbelievable tricks. On their part, it was duty of kings to provide for those artists.
However, the situation altered totally when monarchy ended. “The magicians became totally helpless. The British dethroned the kings and captured their palaces and other properties. Following this, there was nothing left for the magicians,” recounted Kumar. “Then, the magicians had to reluctantly take to the road to earn their bread and butter.”
After Independence the magicians expected some improvement in their plight. “On the contrary, they had to face an even worse situation,” said Kumar. “The magicians continued to present their talents on roadside or in melas(fairs) only. That too was banned by the then government during the days of Punjab militancy.” The government gave the reason that people gathering to watch the roadside shows were an invitation for bomb blasts. Therefore, it was a tough time for the magicians to survive and many of them switched to other professions like driving auto, added Kumar. It was their plight that prompted magicians to collectively form an association in 1982, IMB,under the leadership of AshokKharbanda.
What magicians want All that the magicians in India collectively ask for is to declare magic an art. By doing so they could get more respect and at the same time they would not have to pay a heavy entertainment tax. “In a bid to preserve this dying art, government needs to intervene immediately,” said SumitKharbanda,a well-known contemporary magician. “It is our request to government to declare magic an art, and not merely a source of entertainment. In this way we can acquire a good respect in society and also don’t have to pay a heavy entertainment tax.” Echoing the idea, another magician Jugnuopined, “By declaring magic an art, we can avoid not only the heavy tax but also avoid the heavy paper works that have been imposed by our government.”
Many magicians, who marked their presence at the Magic Festival organised by the Delhi government also seek people’s support for their magic. “We want people to give us support to revive this art form. At the same time, we also request youngsters of our country to choose magic as a career so that this art doesn’t die,” said AshokKharbanda.
Career in magic Today, magic is limited to roadside and performances in fairs but few realize it has a reach beyond that. Even now people are filled with negative attitude towards this art that has a potential for numerous opportunities. In several countries, magic is seen as a career opportunity to produce a performing artist. In India, which has a rich tradition of this art form, performers are treated little better than street performers.
Corporate companies have opened up some avenues for magicians, the performers concede. “These days, there are many corporate companies hiring magicians on a salary basis. Their task is to perform on the various occasions like product launch, corporate gatherings and birthday parties, to entertain people,” said SumitKharbanda.He also explained that apart from entertaining people, the magicians also turned out to be a very helpful to popularise new launches and product. “For instance, if any magician launches a new product with his tricks, that product has a recall value in the minds of people for a longer duration.”
Apart from this there is a good demand for magicians in foreign markets. Therefore, to spread the magic and to train new magicians, a number of magic schools have come up in the country.
Different tricksIndian rope trick, mango trees trick, Hindu basket tricks and coin tricks are some of the repertoire that were developed in India and the rest of the world either follows them or has developed upon them. “These are some of the tricks that many foreigners learnt from India. Many of them have improved upon these same tricks with the help of good technology,” said Tulsi magician, who is a master in coin tricks. “But still people of our country give preference to foreigners. But we are not less than them at any point. In comparison to India, we get better respect in foreign countries.”
Eric Leclerc,a well-known magician of Canada, who performed at the Delhi Haat,said he was very much impressed with the Indian magicians. “India has always been a land of great magicians. I have learnt many tricks from Indians magicians. The most impressive one, I like in India is their rope trick.” There are certain tricks that Indians too adopted from abroad such as handkerchief trick, rabbit box trick and sparrow trick.
The bullet catch is a conjuring illusion in which a magician appears to catch a bullet fired directly at them—oftenin their mouth, sometimes in their hand or caught with other items such as a dinner plate. The bullet catch may also be referred to as the bullet trick, or occasionally the gun trick.
Reality or magic The word magic is derived from the Latin word “magi”. It is believed that the purpose of practicing magic is to entertain, cheat in games, or create deception and illusions. “Magic is nothing but a deception of mind, what we have to create in the mind of people,” explains SumitKharbanda.
Sharing the same view, Tulsisaid “Magic is an illusion and source of entertainment. While performing, we have to create an environment so that we can amuse people. We have to take care of minute details like lights, music, costumes, presentation and art of speech. If anything fails to work so does our magic.”
Canada-based Eric Leclercemphasised on practice, saying, “Magic comes only after a lot of practice. The more you practice the more you amuse people. Apart from costumes, the most important thing is equipment. Without these equipmentswe can’t perform even a single trick.”
India’s magiciansThere were several magicians who were household names. Their feats were much talked about and they were accorded celebrity status. PC Sorcar(senior and junior), for instance, gained lots of popularity not just in India but worldwide. Both Sorcarswere masters of vanishing acts. Sorcarjunior vanished Taj Mahal for two minutes. He also made the Indore-Amritsar Express disappear in front of a huge audience.
Among the top Indian magicians currently are VazahakunnamNeelakandam Namboothiriand ProfKBhagyanath.
