...If at all there was anything in the air, it was magic. And those strange notions of suspicion a mere figment of over-active imagination. The kind that Anand Awasthi (the host) good-naturedly accepts as an integral part of his life and work as a professional magician. No wonder then, as he offers a cup of coffee, he is quick to add, ``Don't be afraid to drink it, just because it's being offered by a magician!'' before breaking into a loud guffaw.
City folk watch in open-mouthed astonishment as Anand unloads his bag of tricks before them. A snake turning into a girl and then back into a snake, an Egyptian mummy coming to life, floating in mid-air, disappearing off the stage and emerging from somewhere in the audience, a girl being transformed into a bear... the list is long.
While Anand is seen to perform these tricks just with the wave of a wand, it's been an arduous journey to reach this stage. And it began more than 30 years ago in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, with the street-side jugglers being his initial idols. ``As the madaris would play around with silver coins, produce sweets out of nowhere, I'd watch mesmerised. Since then, I knew magic was in my blood, and I wished to leave my schooling in pursuit of that,'' he says.
Of course, he did not leave his education half-way, even acquiring a master's in economics. Finding no teacher in the realm of magic, he coached himself. Watching the jugglers, picking up the nitty-gritties, he'd realise where the trick lay each time somebody made a mistake. Beginning with items such as coins and handkerchiefs, he graduated from being a conjurer to doing floor shows and tricks like drinking highly concentrated nitric acid and chewing tubelights till he reached this stage - of performing elaborate shows that emphasise the power of illusion.
``Initially I was into doing the adventurous, dare-devil kind of tricks. Especially since that was the time I had to prove my mettle. Now having found my groove, I concentrate on bettering my stage shows so that the audience has a good time each time,'' elaborates Anand. Though he had been entertaining crowds since his school days, his first commercial show came in 1973 at Raipur when he was just 21, and today, has more than 23,000 performances to his credit, including many on foreign shores.
``I believe that a good item and successful show is one that has given me the greatest satisfaction to perform,'' says Anand, like the two feats that remain unparalleled so far. The first was at the age of 17, when walking in Harry Houdini's watery footsteps, he managed to accomplish an underwater escape in 40 seconds flat. ``Houdini had done it in six minutes, P.C.Sorkar senior in 90 seconds. I just knew I could do it ever since I saw a film on Houdini's original escape in my childhood.'' The second world record was earned from a 200-kilometre motorcycle ride from Indore to Bhopal - blindfolded, with only his instincts to guide him. Both these accomplishments came whilst still at college.
However, as he progressed in his chosen profession, there was a lot he had to give up. The most important being the support of his family, who just would not come to terms with Anand's ways of magic. And whilst still coping with that, came the realisation that magicians could not evoke the same kind of respect that comes the way of other performing artistes. ``It's only a cheap type of curiosity that comes our way. Magic, according to me, is a pleasing and amusing art of exhibition, skill and practice for the sake of innocent entertainment. Using concepts like hypnosis, mesmerisation and effectively exploiting the power of illusion, magicians aspire to entertain their audience. This is not voodoo or witchcraft, as is often wrongly thought,'' he emphasises.
Which is why he cannot understand the apprehension that comes the way of the performers of magic - which is not just a dying tradition, but ``a viable art that earns foreign exchange. And this is even more in our country. Today, we just have a handful of magicians left, who are struggling to keep this unique tradition alive, with no support from any quarter.'' No wonder then, Anand's proposal for the establishment of an academy of magic on the lines of a regular educational institute never saw the light of day.
Painfully aware that his magic wand cannot change such perceptions, he continues to put it to uses that have been tried and tested - entertaining people with a whole new world that has no worries and anxieties, just wonder and amazement.
City folk watch in open-mouthed astonishment as Anand unloads his bag of tricks before them. A snake turning into a girl and then back into a snake, an Egyptian mummy coming to life, floating in mid-air, disappearing off the stage and emerging from somewhere in the audience, a girl being transformed into a bear... the list is long.
While Anand is seen to perform these tricks just with the wave of a wand, it's been an arduous journey to reach this stage. And it began more than 30 years ago in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, with the street-side jugglers being his initial idols. ``As the madaris would play around with silver coins, produce sweets out of nowhere, I'd watch mesmerised. Since then, I knew magic was in my blood, and I wished to leave my schooling in pursuit of that,'' he says.
Of course, he did not leave his education half-way, even acquiring a master's in economics. Finding no teacher in the realm of magic, he coached himself. Watching the jugglers, picking up the nitty-gritties, he'd realise where the trick lay each time somebody made a mistake. Beginning with items such as coins and handkerchiefs, he graduated from being a conjurer to doing floor shows and tricks like drinking highly concentrated nitric acid and chewing tubelights till he reached this stage - of performing elaborate shows that emphasise the power of illusion.
``Initially I was into doing the adventurous, dare-devil kind of tricks. Especially since that was the time I had to prove my mettle. Now having found my groove, I concentrate on bettering my stage shows so that the audience has a good time each time,'' elaborates Anand. Though he had been entertaining crowds since his school days, his first commercial show came in 1973 at Raipur when he was just 21, and today, has more than 23,000 performances to his credit, including many on foreign shores.
``I believe that a good item and successful show is one that has given me the greatest satisfaction to perform,'' says Anand, like the two feats that remain unparalleled so far. The first was at the age of 17, when walking in Harry Houdini's watery footsteps, he managed to accomplish an underwater escape in 40 seconds flat. ``Houdini had done it in six minutes, P.C.Sorkar senior in 90 seconds. I just knew I could do it ever since I saw a film on Houdini's original escape in my childhood.'' The second world record was earned from a 200-kilometre motorcycle ride from Indore to Bhopal - blindfolded, with only his instincts to guide him. Both these accomplishments came whilst still at college.
However, as he progressed in his chosen profession, there was a lot he had to give up. The most important being the support of his family, who just would not come to terms with Anand's ways of magic. And whilst still coping with that, came the realisation that magicians could not evoke the same kind of respect that comes the way of other performing artistes. ``It's only a cheap type of curiosity that comes our way. Magic, according to me, is a pleasing and amusing art of exhibition, skill and practice for the sake of innocent entertainment. Using concepts like hypnosis, mesmerisation and effectively exploiting the power of illusion, magicians aspire to entertain their audience. This is not voodoo or witchcraft, as is often wrongly thought,'' he emphasises.
Which is why he cannot understand the apprehension that comes the way of the performers of magic - which is not just a dying tradition, but ``a viable art that earns foreign exchange. And this is even more in our country. Today, we just have a handful of magicians left, who are struggling to keep this unique tradition alive, with no support from any quarter.'' No wonder then, Anand's proposal for the establishment of an academy of magic on the lines of a regular educational institute never saw the light of day.
Painfully aware that his magic wand cannot change such perceptions, he continues to put it to uses that have been tried and tested - entertaining people with a whole new world that has no worries and anxieties, just wonder and amazement.
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