Stunning finale to Muthukad’s cross-country magic tour driven by social message
New Delhi / December 4, 2024
New Delhi, Dec 4: Amid a mesmerising display of his signature tricks underpinned with the lofty message of social inclusion, internationally-acclaimed illusionist Gopinath Muthukad concluded his two-month nationwide tour in the national capital last evening as scores of differently abled children trained by him showed their expertise in magic, dance and music.
As the venue along Janpath Road reverberated with a soulful rendition of ‘Jai Ho’ by students of the Different Art Centre (DAC), an NGO set up by the magician, the two-hour programme took off with former Supreme Court Judge Kurian Joseph responding to Muthukad’s invitation to join him on the dais for a stunning opening magic item. A young man from the audience was asked to put his wristwatch in a box. It vanished, but reappeared in another chest kept by Mr Kurien. The act drew thunderous cheering by the crowd.
Attended by Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, an array of such unusual tricks on Tuesday lit up the Dr Ambedkar International Centre, which was the climactic venue of the mission that began from Kanyakumari, presenting magic as an art that can empower marginalised groups.
Particularly significant was the date of the finale: December 3 is International Day for Persons with Disabilities. For that matter, the day of the start of the ‘Inclusive India’ expedition from Kanyakumari too bore importance: October 6 — World Cerebral Palsy Day.
Apt for the occasion, a student with cerebral palsy took the stage to perform a trick. R Vishnu, 23, made a girl float in the air by removing the box she was standing on, displaying the degree of talent among those with special needs.
As for the opening item, Muthukad lent an added dimension to the object. “Each of the five letters of ‘watch’ stands for a valuable word: ‘w’ for words, ‘a’ for action, ‘t’ for thoughts, ‘c’ for collaboration and ‘h’ for humaneness," said the magician, who handed over the DAC flag to Mre Athawale whose portfolio is Social Justice and Empowerment. "Applying these in real life alone can help us achieve true inclusivity.”
The statement evoked loud cheers from the gathering, which included several MPs, including Dr Shashi Tharoor from Thiruvananthapuram, where Kerala-born Muthukad has been running his NGO for the last five years.
Others who attended included Mr Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, who announced similar journeys in 100 cities, starting next year, to create awareness. Mr Shombi Sharp, UN Resident Coordinator in India, was also present.
Among the dozen items that he showed, Muthukad unfolded a range of techniques called ‘mind reading’, ‘time travel’ and ‘transportation’ in magic parlance. In one case, the audience were led to believe that their “love-filled glance” would crack open a glass cube to ‘free’ the flower inside it. In another, random onlookers on stage, who were to open the newspapers piled on the table, were stunned to note that a just-performed item was there in print in a journal that was one-and-a-half years old.
The show, typically, concluded with the national anthem featuring megastar Amitabh Bachchan on the screen with the sign language of the lines.
Earlier, members of DAC came up with instrumental music that belied their intellectual challenges. For instance, young Ruksana Anwar played the violin, Christine Rose on the keyboard and Hari Govind on the tabla while teenaged star singer Adithya Suresh belted a hit Bollywood song, reinforcing the essence of the ‘Inclusive India’ campaign.
"These children are like innocent flowers,” said Muthukad, a winner of the coveted International Merlin Award considered as the Oscar in the field of magic, “We need to remove the barriers of perception and approach them with an open heart.”
This was the magician fifth campaign of ‘Inclusive India’ as it traversed through the length and breadth of the country. Starting from the southern tip of the peninsula, the tour was punctuated with stopovers along the central plains, the hilly east, Gujarat in the west and Jammu & Kashmir up north before culminating in the national capital.
The ‘Inclusive India’ mission enjoyed non-financial support from the Union Government’s Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Across its journey, the campaign circulated innovative awareness-generating videos. Each event was organised in collaboration with the DEPwD’s regional institute or centre.
A winner of the Kerala government’s ‘Keralasree’ award, ‘Muthukad’s earlier missions with the similar spirit have been Vismay Bharat Yatra (2002), Gandhi Mantra (2005), Vismay Swaraj Yatra (2007) and Mission India (2010).
