Magician Gopinath Muthukad ends professional career as magician
T'PURAM: Popular magician Gopinath Muthukad is ending his professional career as a magician to spend time working for the differently abled. The magician intends to focus on the upliftment of differently-abled kids and hopes to work towards their empowerment.
"This decision has been arrived after a lot of thought. For several months the question has been boggling me. A magic performance takes up a lot of time, from the time of its planning and execution. One week is required for preparing for a single performance. By not doing any professional shows, I will get more time to focus on launching specific projects for the differently abled," said magician Muthukad. The idea is to launch a mega university for the differently-abled, which will enable in their holistic development and welfare.
The celebrated magician is known for his innovative idea of using magic as therapy for the differently-abled. The 'Different Art Centre', which has been set up by him, at his magic themed park 'Magic Planet' focuses on teaching magic to the differently-abled and helping them in their daily activities.
"I have been amazed at how magic has helped the differently-abled kids. The change in their behaviour can't be translated into words. I intend to invest my whole time into working towards their wellbeing and development," he said.
At present as many as 6 differently-abled individuals are being employed at the centre while 100 are being accommodated as trainers at the centre. "For the past two years I have been working with these children and their transformation has been amazing. I intend to set up a university for them, which will have a dedicated different sports centre, autism therapy centre, research centre and so on," added Muthukad.
Muthukad said that while he will miss magic and performing it, the difficult decision had to be made. Muthukad performed for the first time when he was just ten years old. "I started off at a time when magic was performed on the streets. I grew with magic and could popularise it. I have always maintained that I wanted to die on stage, when performing. But I am ending the professional career," said Muthukad who has performed in over 8000 stages in 54 countries, in a career spanning 45 years.