This is a very strange story and if I had read it written by me, I would assume it was one of my fanciful tales.I didn’t write it but I am writing about it now.
The town of Sakkardara, India, is apparently a terrible location in which to raise a family or to even live.The area lakes and streams are contaminated with filth and the standards we take for granted are far from achieved.There is no literacy in the adult or child populations, the medical care is absent and there is very little hope of finding a way out of the slums.
This is the strange part.For some reason, the skill passed from generation to generation is the ability to perform magic ? not supernatural magic, but our kind of magic; rabbit out of a hat, magic.The Hindustan Times source observed one family where magic has been passed through three generations.
Most cannot even write their own names. And like their parents they dont seem to mind. Formal education is considered unnecessary in their world of magic. The mindset is so staunch that most fathers feel committed to teach magic rather than alphabets to their children. The training starts as early as the age of six.
A family of eight barely sees the father earn Rs 1,500 per month. But there is little sense of family planning. Iqbal, a 13-year-old magician, has six siblings. He innocently says, “Sabke teen-teen to ladke hai hi jadu seekhne ke liye,” (every home has at least three young boys to learn magic).
While the young men are levitating, sawing in half or vanishing their assistants, they are covered with skin diseases fostered by the surrounding environment.The mainstream India press looks at this as a tragedy and of course it is.The children are not taught to read or write; their hygiene is disregarded but their ability to perform magic is encouraged.
As magicians, we might be encouraged to see these children and adults as fellow magicians with the same interests we have and the same needs we share.It is harder to dismiss the starvation or illness when you view the victim as an individual like you.If we can objectify the victim or determine a way to rationalize their situation (“if they wanted to get out of the slime, they could but they chose to stay”), it is much easier to turn our gaze to more pleasant views.
We just received word that the Ted Lesley Wonder Workshop
On 17 November 2002, Ted Lesley’s Wonder Workshop celebrated the grand opening of its studio with a party and open house at its location in downtown Berlin.
Among the guests were several of the great minds and performers in German magic, including noted author Ralf Wichmann-Braco. The irrepressible Ted Lesley and the unbelievable Walburga Raeder (who often performs quite convincingly as Marlene Dietrich) unveiled their two-person thought transmission act.
This was followed by a lecture by Texas magician Bill Palmer, translator of books by Punx, Ted Lesley and Borodin.
Everyone had a fine time, and Ted has decided to have another open house in the near future.
You can read more about the open house — and future open houses by going to the Mind and Magic Forum (
Mr. Shankar has derived more publicity from this stunt than many of the magicians and psychics before him. This has turned into a media frenzy and apparently he appreciates his responsibilities as a showman, a magician and a citizen of the great country of India.
He will pay the $1,100 Rupees (about $24.84) for riding through the very busy streets with a blindfold and without a helmet. The police pressed charges noting that:
“On Friday, we checked our records and found that the magician had filed an application, saying he was organising a magic show. There was just one sentence that mentioned he would be driving blindfold. When we checked, we found that he was denied permission. But instead he went ahead and got a VIP to flag it off,” he said, referring to Labour Minister Sahib Singh’s presence at four-km-long drive. How could we have let him go scot-free? We fined him and he paid up too.”
Shankar has long maintained there was no danger. “I can see everything even when I am blindfolded. Its just telepathy, that’s why I didn’t bother to take permission,” he told reporters.
But the police have their point, “We don’t want children or youth to ape such acts and add to our worries.”
So no one was hurt, no secrets were leaked, Mr. Shankar received publicity well worth the fine and the young people of the city are aware thatdriving with a blindfold can be dangerous and should not be attempted.
A happy ending for all. Check out the story at NewIndPress – South India’s Number One News Site.
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