Circus artistes strive to survive in a changing world

Most of them don’t see a promising future in the profession

Hanging in balance:While circus performers bring smiles on the faces of the audience, their life is not a bed of roses.— Photo: Rajendra Singh Hajeri

The hair dye barely conceals her gray hair and the heavy make-up on her face fails to hide her advancing age. The wrinkles reveal the story of her life and the status of the industry she is working for.

Priti Mohan, a circus artiste, who is now in her fifties, has literally spent her entire life in the tent, which is not only her home but also her world.

Having witnessed periodic changes in the profession, including days when it was a lucrative business, Ms. Priti does not see a promising future for circus.

Ms. Priti started working as an acrobatic performer at an early age.

She performed risky stunts during her early days till the age of around 30.

“With advancing age, I am not able to perform properly. An accidental fall while walking on a tight rope about five years ago made me weaker as I broke my knee. I remained off the work for four months,” Ms. Priti says.

Suman, another veteran artiste, who worked for Gemini Circus, said she could not conceive as she did acrobatic performances on a bicycle for long.

She said that after retirement at the age of around 50, the artistes either work as trainers in the same circus or join their family.

S. Lakshmanan, trainer, and K.N. Natesan, manager, Jumbo circus, both in their seventies, have worked for various circus companies in the past. They also do not see a future in the profession.

“About four decades ago, the country had over 200 circus companies and almost everyone was making profit. But today, they have reduced to around 10. This is the change we have witnessed and it is certainly not a rosy picture,” Mr. Natesan said. He said that while retired circus artists get a meagre amount as pension in States such as Kerala and West Bengal, no such benefit is offered by other States. “We feel that the Union government should offer pension for us,” Mr. Lakshmanan said.

Having performed in international circus companies in Malaysia, Brunei and Kuwait, Mr. Lakshmanan believes that wild animals could be replaced with acrobatic performers.

“Russian and Chinese artistes are mainly acrobatic performers and jugglers who attract a large number of people,” he said.

He said that if the government opens an academy for developing and nurturing circus artistes, it would help circus companies.

“Otherwise, circus will soon become history and children will possibly get to know about it only in books,” Mr. Lakshmanan added.