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Harry Potters in the making
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On his mission of destorying superstitions, Magician Gowtham has made kids understand the in-thing of witchcraft, says G.V. Ramana Rao.
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CHILDREN CAME to learn magic. It was not the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And the headmaster was not the all-powerful wizard, Albus Dumbledore. But, every child who came to the three-day magic training programme conducted last week by the Atheist Centre in Vijayawada is a potential Harry Potter.The children flocked to the Atheist Centre to perfect the tricks reportedly used by fake godmen and medicine-men to cheat and exploit gullible people.Gayatri, a student of Vikas Vidya Vanam, is as old as Hermione Granger, the only girl in Harry Potter's gang.
"I have learned small tricks like taking out coins, rings and ribbons from behind the ears and from the nose at the magic training camp,'' she says.''
Most babas use the slight of the hand to fool people. The so called miracles performed by them are cheap tricks that can be performed by any magician. We are teaching magic to children to equip them to deal with such people in future. Note contortionist Harry Houdini and noted atheist, Abraham T.Kovoor, magicians, P.C.Sorcor and Jadugar Anand have been able to challenge `miracle-men' with their knowledge of magic,'' says Vijayam, executive director of the Atheist Centre.''Article 51 A (h) of Indian Constitution makes it a fundamental duty of every citizen to promote scientific outlook and spirit of inquiry. This three-day magic training programme has been conducted in that spirit,'' Dr. Vijayam says.''
In some parts of the State, blind beliefs and superstitions are used by vested interest to frighten, exploit and even kill people who question their authority. World history is full of incidents in which totally innocent people have been burnt at the stack,'' he says.Magician Gowtham is the equivalent of Professor Quirrell, head of the Defence Against the Dark Arts department.
Born in a family that was influenced by Leftist ideology, he used his knowledge to dispel superstitions and blind beliefs. The Atheist Centre selected him to conduct the training camp. Who can teach magic to the children than an accomplished magician? "Fake sorcerers make use of items that are used for worship like, camphor, coconut and ash,'' says Gowtham.
They use clothes to conceal various kinds of objects that are later slipped into the palms. ''Viboodhi balls can be hidden at the junction between the thumb and the palm. With the slight of the hand, the viboodhi ball slips between the thumb and the index finger. By crushing the ball into powder, viboodhi is produced.
If the disciples are a little observant, they can see for themselves what is happening, but they do not want to see what is happening,'' Gowtham explains.''
One can hold a piece of burning camphor in the palm for several minutes provided that the bottom part of the piece is dipped in water.
The part of camphor which is wet does not burn and since the flame is always upwards one does not feel any heat. With a little bit of practice, a piece of burning camphor can be put into the mouth and extinguished. Fake sorcerers use these cheap tricks to impress innocent villagers and take money from them,'' the magician unravels the `mysterious' tricks.
The famous blood-in-the-coconut trick is also very simple, according to Gowtham. Fake sorcerers send with the party which approaches them for treatment or exorcism, an assistant, to buy a coconut in the market.
The assistant selects a coconut at the shop. Care is taken to see that the coconut is very similar in appearance to the one which has already been prepared for the ceremony. Red dye is injected into the coconut using a syringe through one of the three natural holes in the shell.
At the nick of time, coconuts are switched. When the prepared coconut is broken, red substance like blood comes out. J.Naveen, studying II year intermediate at Sri Chaitanya Junior College, has all the makes of a Harry Potter.
He came to the magic training camp so that he can fight evil in rural areas. Nobody in his family would fall prey to fake godmen and sorcerers, but his heart goes out to the ignorant rural masses who are exploited, he says.
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
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Visakhapatnam
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