The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : There's magic in the air

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 01, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

There's magic in the air

A REFRESHING entertainment awaits Nellaiites from arguably the world's fastest magician, Jadugar Anand, who would be amusing the residents, especially children, for about a week from Friday.

Mr. Anand, who holds three world records — for escaping within 40 seconds from a locked box kept under Narmada River in 1970, travelling 200 km from Indore to Bhopal on a motorbike blindfolded the next year and communicating with a person 450 km away through telepathy — assures that the thrill-packed show of 9,000 seconds to be conducted at Nellai Sangeetha Sabha in Tirunelveli would be a one-in-a-lifetime experience for the people here.

Two of his disciples would be driving motorbikes blindfolded on the arterial roads of Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai on Monday to show that accidents happen only when the road user gets distracted.

Mr. Anand, who started performing magic when he was seven years old, says that his magic was only harmless entertainment to keep people happy and not black magic. "If this art is methodically taught to aspiring youths, it would be of great help to them as they can earn money apart from providing employment to people," he says. Mr. Anand is trying to open a school in Jaipur to teach students the art he has painstakingly learnt.

The magician, who toured southern India for the past two-and-a-half years, has planned to move to Pondicherry after his performing on the banks of the Thamirabarani.

From P. Sudhakar
in Tirunelveli.

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