The Hindu Business Line : Inside a circus

Outside I was teased about my height, here I am accepted and manage to send money home too… Saif Ali Khan
For how long can we mourn the law banning the use of wild animals? We have to look forward. Sujit Kumar

Gagandeep Kaur

Show-women: Trapeze artiste Prabha is from Nepal

Gagandeep Kaur

Circus, which was once considered a part of national heritage, is today fighting for survival. Even until a few years ago there were as many as 50 circuses touring the country but today, only about 10 Indian circuses are active.

The first, and probably the most important reason for this is the law, which forbids the use of wild animals. Some years ago, the Supreme Court banned five categories of wild animals — tiger, leopard, lion, bear and monkey — from taking part in circus acts. The other important reason is that television has taken kids away from circus.

The artistes are probably the worst sufferers in all this. While at one time they used to have a huge fan following, today they are barely able to attract enough crowds for sustenance.

At one recent afternoon show, for instance, only 25 per cent of the seats were occupied. The ticket price ranged from Rs 50 to Rs 100 for a three-hour show in which about 200 artistes perform live. When you compare this with the ticket price at a multiplex today, you wonder whether the circus makes any money at all.

“Indian circus needs to be technologically savvy. For how long can we mourn the law forbidding the use of wild animals, which were no doubt the major draw for a circus? But we have to look forward. It would be helpful if we get a ground in the middle of the city. Most times we get land outside the city and not many people want to travel that far.

“There are so many things one can do. I plan to introduce traditional art forms, like sword fighting, along with modern music to make it more interesting. I am planning to add new techniques to make circus attractive,” says Sujit Kumar, owner of the Pune-based Rambo Circus.

The circus act

Some of the Russian artistes at Rambo Circus.

Of the 200 artistes working for Rambo Circus, most are from Nepal and Bangladesh while some are from Uzbekistan, the UK and the US. Some of the foreign artistes are here as part of a cultural exchange programme while others are here for their internship.

“I am from Nepal. My parents sent me here through an agent. I was seven-to-eight years old at the time. I like it here. I am able to send money home. I plan to go back and get married soon,” says the cherubic 22-year-old Prabha, who is a trapeze artist.

With garish lipstick and gaudy clothes, she talks hurriedly before a performance. Another girl from Nepal is Ruksana. She doesn’t know who her parents are. About 20 years old, Ruksana claims she is looked after well by the circus management and says she has no plans to leave it. This is the only home for her.

After a certain age, many of the artistes leave to start a family. Some return to the circus with their children. Most of the children don’t go to school because the circus travels from place to place.

The skills developed at a circus can fetch the artistes few jobs in the outside world. The women often leave the circus earlier than the men, who in most cases leave their family behind in the village and visit them once a year. The girls who leave the circus usually set up a small enterprise, like a kirana shop.

Many circus artistes feel the need for a government sponsored rehabilitation programme for their post-circus years.

Natasha is an artiste from Uzbekistan as part of a cultural exchange programme. She will remain in India for six months. She has attended college to learn circus tricks back home.

“I like India. Earlier I had performed for Gemini Circus in India. The circus here is different from the circus in my country. In Uzbekistan, the circus is not mobile. It performs at one place and is owned by the government, here it is mobile and privately owned,” she explains haltingly in English.

The foreign artistes at Rambo Circus are paid by the UK-based Zippo Circus, with which it has a collaboration. While the foreign artistes command a salary of $15 per day, artistes from the subcontinent are paid anything from Rs 2,000 to Rs 6,000 per month. The salary is a pittance and it was surprising that the artistes didn’t come across as a disgruntled lot. Perhaps it’s because for most of them this is the only life they know.

Mera naam joker

Any circus is incomplete without a clown and this circus is no different. Saif Ali Khan is an 18-year-old dwarf performing with Rambo circus. “I had come to see the circus with my uncle some four years ago. I liked it and contacted the management for a job. While outside I was teased about my height, I am accepted here and manage to send some money back home as well. This is my home now and, in fact, whenever I visit my home I don’t feel like staying for a longer period,” says Saif.

Asked about the safety measures, if any, for the performers and whether the artistes have insurance of any kind against an accident, Kumar says, “I am their insurance. We live like a family and I try to help them as much as I can. Sometime ago we had a girl who developed cancer and I paid for her chemotherapy. She has left the circus now.”

Explaining how artistes are recruited, Kumar says, “Earlier there were agents who used to get people for us from Nepal and Bangladesh. However, now some poor families contact us directly and sometimes there are people, usually from small towns, who are enthusiastic about joining a circus and comes on their own.”

Living conditions

The tents where the artistes stay are clean and one of these even has a television. There are beds and spaces for storing things. The toilets have running water. The foreign artistes cook their food separately while the Indian artistes cook in a group.

Disa Carneol, an 18-year-old circus artiste from the US who was trained at the Academy of Circus Arts, feels that in some ways Indian circus is better than its US counterpart. “To perform before 5,000 people is a dream for any circus artiste and I regularly do it here. Also, there we moved every week but here in India we stay at one place for at least a month. Many a time, we sleep in trucks in the US, but here everybody has a bed.”

It is certainly a difficult life for circus artistes but for many of them it is better than the life in their homes. Poverty back home ensures they are never able to leave the circus.

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Inside a circus