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ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF A...CIRCUS COMPANY

PHOTOS: M. KARUNAKARAN

INTO THE ARENA Scenes from the circus

Ali Sheikh, a builder, repairs a portion. Not a conventional construction worker, he belongs to a group that works with tents, poles, and ropes to create a set of structures for circus people to live and perform. With vast years of experience, these builders can install a complete circus unit within two days. “If our work is not hindered by rain,” qualifies one of them. True to form, they did this in Chennai too.Part of the materials GBC used in the SIAA Grounds was tailor-made for this space. For one, a makeshift tent — 72 feet in diameter — was employed for the main arena. I learn that tents with a diameter of 110 feet and 120 feet are suitable for circus spaces in other parts of the country.

The SIAA Grounds is now home to 322 men and women and a motley set of animals and birds. Not everyone appears in the ring; almost half the team is getting paid to make it habitable for themselves and others. They are engaged either in housekeeping duties or the maintenance of the structures. The living quarters have been set up around the main arena. As these entertainers are away for long periods, their families are permitted to stay with them – that is, if they don’t mind the cramped space. Sometimes, they have to share a room with machines. I notice one living space doubles as a tailoring unit. This is the closest one’s residence can get to his workplace.

Ahmedabad tailors Raj Kumar and Pardeep have no fixed work timings, but have to hang around for long periods. In contrast, performers are expected to show up only for practice – 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. – and for their performances. An organiser tells me performers can spend their free time anywhere they please. Considering that an average individual performance (in one show) lasts just five minutes, they seem to have the best deal.

Of course, these short bursts of work require unusual effort. Venkatesh rides a 125cc Yamaha in a cage shaped like a globe. The 30-year-old veteran believes regular practice alone can make for good performance.

Corporate culture is not alien to a circus unit. The employees are insured, are entitled to a month’s leave with salary and are paid half a day’s wage as extra for the third show (there are three shows in a day). ‘Clown’ Haridas, dressed in a black shirt and dhoti, says he will shortly leave on a trip to Sabarimala. As performers fall sick or take leave, shows are sometimes chopped and changed under the supervision of P.V. Dasan and C.K. Jeyaraj, two senior staffers. A standard three-hour show generally has 32 items, but the number varies slightly now and then.

As I explore the venue, two smells overpower me. The pleasant one comes from one of three kitchens. Each offers a mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, but serves a different set of employees. Russian performers have the privilege of a separate kitchen.

I catch the other smell from an enclosure for animals, close to the bays where people can wait before the start of a show. Braving the assault on my nostrils, I allow myself to be introduced, from a distance, to camels, donkeys, horses and elephants. Ringmaster Sivaparsad is mystified by my fear of them. “She is Shivani. He is Pinta. They are like you and me.” Except for a pair of emus, all the birds (macaws and African Greys among them) stay in cages at a separate place. The flightless emus are neighbours of the horses. One of them is named Chennai because she was born when her mother was on duty here. Kali, a retired equine, is part of the gang. When asked what a retired horse is doing in a circus, Sivaprasad says, “We’ll keep the horse with us. We can’t forget that she fed us once.”

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