There’s the magic,” says Sudhansu Das, 40, pointing to the gleam in the eyes of Chintu Nayak as the boy thrashes a rope and weaves his fingers over to transform it into a rod. The rope stays ramrod stiff for moments till he loosens his palm and it droops, as if on command.
The elation of the 12-year-old is unbridled. He pumps his fists, does a high-five with his ‘sir’ and finishes with a jig. And not without reason. For after many a failed attempt, he has finally mastered one of the first stage magic tricks. Many more will follow.
“In this joy and achievement lies the real magic,” says Sudhansu. “The boy has conquered his fears of failure and will go home more confident,” says the magician as he spells out his mission to teach magic to underprivileged and physically challenged children.
Every weekend, Sudhansu tows a suitcase filled with magic equipment—hats, ropes, cards, jugs, etc, to the field on the Odisha Government Press campus in Cuttack. A boisterous group of around 10 kids assemble there in the morning long before he arrives.
The open-air class goes on for a couple of hours and then the children disperse to their routine in the nearby Jay Jagannath Slum. But there has been a change over the past few days. Samson Lima, 13, the son of a tent worker no longer loiters around; Chintu and his brother Mantu, both 14, have begun to avoid bad company; while Salim Abhisek Sabar, 13, now concentrates more on his studies.
They no longer bunk school either. After school, their time is spent practicing the tricks they learn from Sudhansu. In time, if they persist, they will perform with him or do their own solo acts, entertaining people and earning respect as well as money.
Sudhansu’s flair for magic was evident from a fairly young age. When he was six, he saw a magic show in school. The magician also taught the children some easy coin-and-card tricks. Sudhansu latched on to the tricks as a natural and began to show them off.
His parents, Captain (retd) Niranjan Das and mother Kshyamaprava, spotted the talent and he was put under the tutelage of magician P Bhaskar. At eight, he was putting up stage shows in the city with Bhaskar. By the time he was in Class X, he turned pro and held solo shows.
“Magic has been a liberating experience for me. The appreciation notwithstanding, it made me independent and confident. While holding shows in public, mostly in schools from age 14, I started earning `1,000-15,00 per show,” says Sudhansu.
He went on to complete his education as an engineer and left Cuttack to work in Pune, New Delhi and India’s North-east. The NE stint provided him with a new purpose—to train the underprivileged and physically challenged people as professional magicians.
Sudhansu founded the Magic Academy and Research Centre in 2005 in Guwahati and has trained many as magicians. He has also worked with jail inmates as he believes that magic skills can be a tool for reforming them.
“I tried to experiment with magic as a therapy for the physically challenged to help them rid their helplessness and empower them to stand on their own feet,” he shares.
But it turned out to be enlightening experience for Sudhansu as well. “Their special abilities to grasp and master tricks quicker than normal people amazed me,” he says. His efforts in Cuttack are backed by the success of his experiments in Guwahati, where he spent a decade.
Sudhansu’s aim is to prevent the kids from falling into bad company and orient them towards studies. The mission finds an echo in the small group.
“We want to grow up educated and live with dignity,” says Sudhansu’s most promising ward, Ratan, a boy from the slum who is studying in a local school. “I want to practice magic and hold shows, but it will be a hobby,” he beams.
