Magic: Its all in the family

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When Ashiq Ali monstrously slits the neck of his partner and swishes the blood-dripping knife for the awe-struck crowd during the vanishing act, he is just a skilled magician manoeuvring the attention of the crowd. But the real magic is yet to unfurl. Once the crowds disperse, the shrieking, ever-chattering magician soon turns into a caring father as he gives a pat to his son Sharukh Khan and asks. "Thak gaya? (Tired?)’’. The boy, obviously fagged, smiles and gives a pleasant nod.The sight does not end at the venue of the ongoing magic fair ‘India Jaal'.On the other side, another duo, sixty-seven-year old Asim Khan and his thirty-year-old son Sachin sit encircled by curious gazes. A long piece of paper is dished out and is ablaze in no time. Sachin crushes the burning coil of paper in his palms like a banana slice and spreads out his hands to bring out a fresh roll of paper. The spectacles go on and so do the cheers and claps.At the far end of the venue was another duo, two brothers - Farooq Shah, the oldest man in the fair, and his brother Aaz Mohammad Khan. The brothers are busy sprouting full-grown mango trees out of a dry, shrunken mango seed.‘India Jaal’ being organised by the Magic Academy and Department of Tourism, is not just about magic, but is also an exclusive family affair. The sons have taken after their fathers and the younger brothers their elder ones. Neither Sharukh nor Sachin has ever felt the need to learn anything else.When Ashiq Ali is asked why he does not send his son to school, he passes on the question to his son. Sharukh does not think too much to reply, "This is what I want to do. I grew up with magic and want to live with it. Hence, I always want to accompany my father.’’This young boy wants to be known as a street magician even if it would mean that he will have to perform tricks in the roasting heat with nothing but water in his stomach. He wants to travel around with magic even if he will have to bear the painfully bitter lathi-blows of police and even bitter mouthings from the police. "Back home, we don’t even get a place to perform. Police often drive us away. That is why we feel like heaven being here. To see you clap for us and gather around us make us feel so special,’’ says Farooq Shah.They have a simple way of dealing with hunger. "When we feel hungry, we go out and perform. Believe us, hunger just disappears,’’ the magicians say.However, they do not want their younger generation to feel the pinch of hunger. The kids in their families have already begun going to school."We want them to learn to write and read. We only know how to put a signature. Our kids, at least the new generation, should not be like that,’’ says Ashiq.