Circus Circus!

The circus is in town and over the weekend, we took Abhay along with his cousins to the Rambo circus. Since Abhay has never really been to a circus before, he had no idea about what to expect from “Rambo circus” which is now playing in Bangalore. As we set foot inside the big red tent, it felt like déjà vu as I remember my parents taking me to a circus that was playing in Bangalore back in the early 90s and how my mother was much more excited than I was as she had grown up in a small town when the circus was one of the most popular and affordable forms of entertainment for kids and adults alike. Even today as I recanted the various acts performed at the Rambo circus yesterday, it was she who was bursting with questions like “Was there this….was there that?” as if to do a story on how the circus has changed over the years!:-) Well, one thing that’s changed is the animal antics now being restricted to that of the elephant, horses and other domestic animals like dogs and cats as opposed to tigers and lions of the yester years. Frankly, I’d much rather enjoy the dare-devil and death defying acrobats/stunts performed by trained artists than the witness the hungry animals being prodded into jumping through rings of fire! Anyway, the show put up by the Rambo circus was quite entertaining and featured a combination of several acts, including juddling, balancing, clown acts, acrobats and trapeze acts performed by artists from all over the world, with Abhay’s favourite being the bike ride in the globe (though a usual act in every circus…it was the first time for Abhay and that too “without his hands covering his ears), wheel of death (a thrilling act touted as the show’s piece de resistance)  of course the dog show put up by a pack of pomeranians! J

Since it was his first time watching a circus perform, it has to be a book on circus, right? Well, I could have picked up Dr. Suess “If I ran the Circus” but since I could lay my hands on the same,  I read a story from the Young World that had appeared a few months which I had saved for the occasion. “ Under the Big top” by Kavitha Sivaramakrishnan. The circus was in town and Roshan and Swetha went to the circus with their aunt, Mrs. Rao!  The show began with a parade of the performers, dressed in dazzling costumes with flags in their hands and the dangerous and thrilling acts drew gasps of shock from the audience – be it the girl on a rope, the hula-hoop, or the group on a cycle – all the acts were performed with precision. Roshan and Swetha learn that the performers' rigorous training  and practice to get their act right. Roshan wondered if the performers don’t get bored performing the same thing over and over again to which Mrs. Rao pointed at the artists’ faces which seemed to show their passion. As the kids watch the three hour extravaganza, interspersed with comic acts by clowns and the trapeze performance being the grand finale, they marvel at the effort of so many people it takes to put up a show like that. Mrs Rao concludes that circus works well because of team effort and talent and that circus has been around for such a long time that one needs to salute the indomitable spirit of the circus and its people who will continue to entertain people, no matter what! It is true that the circus will always entertain people from all walks of life! After watching a spectacular show put up by Rambo circus, here’s to their indefatigable spirit of performance and entertainment. Enjoy the circus in town people!