Bhuli Bhisri Yaadein - 1

"A long time ago", "In my childhood", "Kya din the woh", such statements brought to my mind that there are actually quite a few things that have slowly faded away which what marks the beginning of this series on this blog. I'll be focussing on anything or anyone who have been typically forgotten....

Blame it on the television and multiplex culture in India, but circus which was once considered a national heritage has gone into oblivion. As a child I still remember, a typical summer vacation outing would be to a circus near Bandra Reclamation Grounds. It would be a task by itself to get tickets, especially the front row ones. Elephants trotting on the periphery, tigers dancing to the tunes of a stick, tamed lions jumping through huge loops of fire sent a shiver down the spine. Then there was the motorbike hero who looked like Superman flying inside a closed globe and the marvellous trapeze artistes who flew like angels and always caught my attention. Nowadays, circus troupes can barely attract enough of a crowd and are fighting for their survival. There was one point of time when Indian circuses were actually preferred even over their Russian and Italian counterparts. But with licensing requirements and stricter animal regulations, there needs to be some kind of a balance struck by the government with some kind of supportive measures to circuses.
Till then, all I can say is "I miss the place where the clown runs the show"....

Yaadein, Yeh Yaadein......