THE MAGICAL MADAARI- ISHAMUDDIN KHAN

It is not often that you get to catch up with a world renowned magician, get to know more about his art and how his lives his life on a day to day basis. We however got a chance to talk to Ishamuddin Khan (ranked 20^th on this list of world’s greatest magicians). He is the only magician in the world who can successfully complete a version of the Indian Rope Trick, the Great Mango Trick and a few others you wouldn’t even heard of.

Following are some of the excerpts from the interview.

Q: If you had a short introduction, what would it be?

IK: Well I am Ishamuddin Khan. I am from Delhi and I belong to the Madari clan of Muslims. We were originally Muslim Faqirs who practiced magic and performed street shows. We were famous for our street performances like the Indian rope trick, snake charming and acrobatics. I am merely continuing this lost art.

Q: We have heard that you are the only magician in the world to successfully complete a version of the Indian Rope Trick, described as the best illusion in the world. Is this true?

IK: Traditionally the Indian Rope trick would mean rising a coiled rope infinitely into the sky, until it can’t be seen. A child then climbs the rope followed by the magician. Both of them disappear from sight and then after a while parts of the child’s body start falling from the sky, like the hand, torso etc. Then the magician appears and lays a cloth over the parts. On removing the cloth the child is a whole again.

Of course it is not possible to reconstruct all these events and no one in history has done it. What I do is make a 20 feet coiled rope rise in air until it becomes completely rigid. After this one of my assistants climb this rope for about 8 feet and then come down. The rope then collapses back to its coiled state. I then have people check the rope for any abnormalities.

Q: Could you tell us where have you performed these tricks?

IK: I first performed this trick in 1995 in South Delhi. That was when I gained my recognition. You will be surprised to know that I did perform this trick in Manipal also, Malpe beach way back in 1997. There was a good crowd in and media was also present to see the spectacle. Since then I have travelled to France, Sweden, Ireland, England, Austria, Norway and Germany amongst many others to showcase the same trick and much more.

Q: Is there no place in India where one can learn magic?

IK: Sadly no! In places like France and England they have societies or schools where you can learn magical arts. There is proper infrastructure and they have the resources to train people into learning magic, all of which is absent in India. This is one of the reasons why the best magicians in the world come from countries abroad and not India even though historically India was known as the Land of snake charmers and magicians. In fact, I was astonished to see that even beggars have certificates given the French government claiming them so. They casually sip on wine as they are begging. More so, they even have credit card machines so that people can make their donations through credit cards also.

          

Q: Given a chance, pick a country that you would like to settle in besides India.

IK: Oh I love Sweden. Given a chance and the resources I would love to go and settle there. But then I love India. “Jo baat yahan ki teen rupee ki chai me hai wo whan kahn” (there is no better fun in tea worth three rupees here than anywhere.)

Q: Sir, tell us something about your family. We hear that you have a son who has gone to Japan to do shows with u?

IK: I took him to Japan where we performed together. I do not want him to continue this profession. I have enrolled my daughter in a school. She is the first from our tribe to go to a school due to which I have also been disowned by my own people. Unfortunately that is the way the society works, you can’t please everyone.

Q: Would you like to teach people (kids) if they wanted to learn magic?

IK: I would have taught them and my children as well. Unfortunately we do not have a module or even the basic infrastructure to teach them magic here and with the skills I have acquired one cannot rise above a certain level. That is why I do not want them to go into this profession.

Q: When you travel abroad who sponsors your trips?

IK: “Sab Allah Bharose” (Everything is in the hands of God). Sometimes i get good journalists who sponsor my trips. There aren’t many NGOs’ either. Even if there are, most of them are illiterate and can’t understand how things work. It falls even before things make up.

Q: The condition of Indian madaaris, jugglers and acrobats is sympathetic. What do you think can be done to uplift them?

IK: Here in India, no one cares about talent and if a person does not have the resources to take his/her talent to the next level, they are simply left behind. Many such people live in poverty. There is no government recognition. That should be the first step. Simply classifying them as SC and ST’s will not help. They need aid and infrastructure to bring themselves up.

By,
Rohan Tuli and Deeksha Awasthi

Photos by: Tejasvi Batria

Sub edited by: Deeksha Awasthi

Manipal Institute of Communication (MIC) presents ‘Article-19’

Article-19 , the fest from Manipal Institute of Communication is here!

Starting 16th of February the college will present to you three days of cultural extravaganza with talks and panel discussions from renowned personalities like Ishamuddin Khan!

Here is how day one is getting started,

Thursday, 16th February

9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m	Inauguration
11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.	Shilo Shiv Suleman The Artist’s Guide to Visual Journaling
1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.	Lunch
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.	Shabnam Virmani Ram without Religion: Poetic traditions of Kabir
4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.	Screening: Ad/Journalism/TV/Animation Express
5:00 p.m. onwards	Shot Cut A very short film festival

We’ll keep you updated with the events!

Movie Goer’s Club : The Road to Oscars

Before the sessionals kick in and the stress comes up, now would be a good time to check out some of the best movies of the era.

Movie Goer’s Club presents to you ‘The Road to Oscars’ 

YELL’s SHOUT OUT at MIC

Haneyl Jacob , Manipal Institute of Communication

The literary and debate club of Manipal Institute of Communication (MIC) recently had a open discussion on ‘Slutwalk : Too modern for modern India?”

Students from all over  MIC started gathering   in a lecture hall as another college day came to an end.

A deeply divided classroom debated “Slutwalks”  yesterday, August 8, trading bitter truths.  Here are a few excerpts from the debate :

  “They have the right to wear what they want but they’re responsible for their own safety.” 
  “With freedom comes responsibility.” 
  “What does a Slutwalk actually make you aware of.” 
  “Enforce more severe punishments.”

With this open discussion, Y.E.L.L channelizes the power of the youth by making them share and debate their perspective on a host of issues giving them a much needed platform to voice their opinion.

This college wide debate kick started at 6pm, as all the students from the college, were selected to debate on the topic ‘Slutwalks – Too Modern for Modern Indian Women’. The  evening concluded with the topic being fiercely debated.

The students battled it out in a high profile debate putting forth their respective opinions. An overwhelming participation from the freshers amongst the audience made the debate interactive and significant.

When they realize they have a voice, an amazing change takes place: they’re suddenly involved in the debate. You don’t have to train students to express an opinion — they’re made of them!

But being capable only goes so far. Like the topics they argue, debate itself takes thought and strategy. They emphasize speedy answers. The candidate who asks a question (“What would you do if . . . ?”) thoughtfully before responding, a feature you’d want in a leader, appears indecisive. Crisp sound bites resonate louder than sound thinking.

The club, which consists completely of students from MIC, is a non-profit ISO certified club which helps students come out with their thoughts and views on things to a wider audience.

MEDIA CONSCIENCE- DAY 2:

The second day of the National Seminar on Media Conscience, started with Kundan R Vyas of Janmabhoomi group, addressing the gathering about the condition of media in post Independence era. He also spoke about defamation, paid news and planted news in media.

Followed by him, Dr Chandan Mitra, Editor and Managing director of the Pioneer took the stage. He spoke about how long term cases can turn into a ruin or pain to a journalist. He also spoke about the various faults in the print media section.

The post break session of the conference saw a wonderful panel discussion. Vinod Mehta, Editor of Outlook; Chandan Mitra, editor and Managing director of the Pioneer; Kundan Vyas, Janmabhoomi group; Alok Mehta, Editor-in-Chief of  Nai Dunia; Swathi Vashishta, anchor CNN IBN; Gnani Shankaran, Tamil writer; Sumita Mehta, Freelance Journalist were present in the panel discussion. All these people from the big guns of media and together under the same roof they held the audience spell bound with their amazing discussions on several topics.

The post lunch session was headed by Alok Mehta speaking on the challenges that linguistic media suffers. Followed by him Gnani Shankaran spoke on Tamil Media and how one should stick to the basic rules of spreading the right information and how journalists should be ready to face the worst situations.The two day conference ended with the valedictory function which was honoured by the presence of Dr G K Prabhu, Registrar of Manipal University.

 

MEDIA CONSCIENCE-DAY 1:

Chaitya Hall at Valley View went vibrant with the sounds of applauds as Manipal Institute of Communication (MIC) welcomed various delegates into its first day of the National Seminar on Media Conscience- Changes, Challenges and Chances.
The session began at 11:30 am after the inaugural ceremony with Sandhya Pai, Managing Editor of Taranga, Kanada Magazine. She discussed the future and impact of print media.
Followed by her was Mukesh Sharma, Director of Doordarshan, Mumabi, who discussed various aspects of television broadcast. His main highlight was the huge division between the unwired (people with unfamiliarity to the present media equipments) and the wired (people who are largely influenced and use current media equipments).
T S Sudhir, Resident Editor of NDTV South and Swati Vashishta, anchor CNN IBN, were the resource people for the afternoon session. Both of them discussed about the current trend of news in various aspects on television.
The last resource person was Vinod Mehta, editor of Outlook. He discussed a variety of topics mainly emphasizing on the fact that media today needs to bring out the truth in every story.
Dr Ramadas Pai, Chancellor of Manipal University (MU); H S Ballal, Pro Chancellor of MU; Dr M V Kamath, Honorary Director of MIC and Varadesh Hirengange, Director of MIC were also present along with other dignitaries.
Mrach 18, will be the second day of the conference where Chandan Mitra, Sumita Mehta, Kundan Vyas and other resource people would be heading the conference.

‘Changes, Challenges and Chances’ @ MIC

Manipal Institute of Communication presents a media conference ‘Changes, Challenges and Chances’

Exclusive for MIC students but MIT students can go as well for a fee of Rs.500/

Speakers include

Vinod Mehta

Chandan Mitra

Sumita Mehta

Alok Mehta

be there!

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY CELEBRATION IN MIC (click here to read more)

March 8, is celebrated as the International Women’s Day. This year is the 100^th year celebration and Manipal institute of Communication (MIC) has its own way of celebrating it.

P Hemlatha, DC of Udupi was the chief guest and Meera Baindor fellow at Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanity was the Guest Speaker of the day speaking on Ecofeminism.

Also delegates from Aasre trust for the differently abled were also present. Archana, one of the delegates, a state and national level awardee in the Special Olympics, was felicitated.

Shanti Narula, an HIV patient for 17 years now and a member of the Deepa Jyothi NGO Network for positive people was also felicitated.

Kalamanch, a constituent MIC theatre club presented a mime and street play on the theme-Women and Female Infanticide respectively.

M V Kamath, Honorary Director of MIC, Varadesh Hirengange, Director of MIC and H S Subha, faculty coordinator were also present at the event.

Pictures : Faizan Patel

Article : Deeksha