Big Top and life outside

Lying on his bed with folded sheets and towels on it, Babutty, the thalassery circus artist’s past star, vividly remembers the day his life changed forever.

It was September 28, 2002. This is a young Babutty, dressed in flashy costumes, zealously wielding the crowd to the circus ring. Seeing the superstar of the circus ring, the crowd returned to praise. The gallery of Gemini Circus at Madhya Pradesh Gwalior is filled with capacity.

He was going to have a crossover routine, a bold move in which one performer swayed on the ropes while the other captured and released the artist with the help of two catchers.

Unfortunately, while swinging, a performer failed to let go of the catcher on time, forcing them to catch the mean person with just one hand. The catcher couldn’t hold him. As his grip loosened, Babty suddenly slid out of the catcher’s hand and fell to the side of his back.

What followed was a deafening moment. Then the crowd made a collective gasp. There was panic everywhere. The world is stagnant.

“When I regain consciousness, I feel numb on my spine. I try to move my limbs in vain,” recalled a tired Babati, who had been in bed for 23 years. It was poverty that drove him and his sister Sheela to the circus owned by Sankaran, the founder of Gemini Circus.

“At that time, there will be five to six children in a family and one or two children will be sent to the circus. These children will work there and their parents will earn other children from the circus.” NK Vijayendran sat next to Babutty.

Ramanathan, who is now in the seventies, was born in a circus. His parents, Raghavan and Devaki, were circus artists. “My father owned the Rangini Circus. Of my ten siblings, I only joined the circus. The rest of my career was elsewhere.” The fall he suffered a few days ago caused him to partially shrink. Ramanasen is now the shadow of his good times. The same is true for the circus industry.

SC Order, Blue Bolts

The ancient artist said the downfall of the Indian Circus began 14 years ago when the Supreme Court banned the hiring of children and teenagers in circus for less than 18 years.

This fills the circus camp with grey artists, some serving as trainers. Local artists were replaced by artists from Nepal, African and Russian.

“Sankarettan (MV Sankaran) treats us like his own kids. The company often brings us food and clothes, paying a weekly allowance. The food is great too. On Sundays, we have a feast with chocolates,” Ramanathan recalls.

K. Narayanan was very popular at his heyday and was once the “flying man”. |Photo source: Nainu Oommen

K. Narayanan, once commonly known as the “Flying Man” Narayanan, joined the circus when he was a V-level student. “I didn’t want to study at that time. And, we didn’t have enough resources to meet my education costs,” Narayanan said.

For many women like Vijayalakshmi, an uneducated person, the job of a circus is an opportunity to make money. She joined the Great Oriental Circus at the age of four. Her aunt brought her there.

See the world through the circus

She remembers how the job took her to places like Malaysia and Singapore. “We traveled throughout India and performed in almost all major cities,” she said.

The artist once did a balanced act and rode a bike tightly stretched rope, recalling taking home Panasonic Radio after a tour of Singapore decades ago and how her family and neighbors flocked to her.

Vijayalakshmi joined the Great Oriental Circus at the age of four | Photo source: Nainu Oommen

Uma Devi, a native of Thalassery, faces stiff resistance when she grew up watching her father Koran train other circus artists, expressing his desire to join the industry. Her perseverance won and eventually joined the industry. But Uma was asked to quit the ring at the age of 19 because her father wanted her to get married and settle down. A few years later, Uma tied a knot with circus artist Narayanan, and she wasn’t keen on her continuing on in the circus.

Fate will be willing to otherwise, as Narayanan was seriously injured in the team practice in Patna. “He was seriously injured in the accident. I still remember taking him to a nearby hospital, all covered in blood,” Uma said.

Narayanan had to undergo prolonged medical treatment, and poverty forced their children Reena and Preeja to join the circus at ages four and six. “I performed on the ring for 20 years. With the little money I made, I funded my husband’s treatment and got married to my daughter,” she said. However, she was far from being fought for. “I can’t save anything for the elderly.”

A meager monthly pension

Many artists get land from circus owners. Vijayalakshmi is one of them, she builds a house on the holdings. As the government decided to provide them with a monthly pension of Rs 1,600, many believe that circus artists from Kerala are relatively better than their peers in other states. P. Vishnuraj, Director of Sports and Youth Affairs, said that in Kerala, up to 113 retired circus artists are being offered.

But circus artists point out how difficult it is to thrive on such a trivial number. “The cost of health care and living costs for medicines and the cost of living have risen,” Babutty said.

Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi’s earlier attempts to provide health insurance plans for circus artists have not made any progress. Cultural Affairs Director Divya S. Iyer hopes to resume the proposal. “We can revisit proposals for insurance plans that are artists,” she said.

government. No use of animals

The falling slides of circus and artists’ lives were accelerated by the government’s decision to ban the use of animals in trade in the late 1990s.

Although many units replace animals with robots, it doesn’t hold much charm for circus lovers. Industry veterans say the excitement of watching elephants, bears and lions goes missing when robotic animals show the same behavior.

“People used to come to the circus for most of their time to watch wildlife up close,” said KP Rajan, a trainer and mechanic with the giant circus. “Earlier, we had 18 elephants with giant circuses. Lions, bears, monkeys and parrots were one of the proud properties of the company. The ban hit us.

Unless large-scale industry names like Gemini, Jumbo, Apollo and Great Bombay Circus are largely out of the scene forever. “The smaller circus in northern India is working hard to make ends meet,” Jumbo Circus coach E. Ravindran Rues E. Ravindran.

He added: “Life has been rid of the sunset for several years.

Divya said the circus remained the same since childhood. “The industry cannot keep up with changing times. It needs to reinvent itself to keep it relevant to a younger audience,” the bureaucrat said.

Revival is a bit too late

Pr Nisha, author of this book Jumbos and Jumping Devil: Social History of Indian Circus It is thought that the circus revival may be too late.

“I find it difficult to recover from the impact of the ban on the use of animals and hiring children. Both decisions are industry doom,” she said.

Even veteran artists admit that the circus has lost its charm and it is almost impossible to recover. “The circus is no longer excited for us,” admits Nalini, a former artist of the great Lehman Circus.

Gone are the days when the circus team arrives in town or country, creating ripples in the area, people line up to buy tickets. Like its gray artists, the industry has gradually succumbed to the inevitable. However, the legacy left by artists and art forms should live long.