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Bengal is famous for magic – and the most famous contemporary magician of Bengal is P.C. Sorcar – who is the son of the famous magician of the same name. So he adds ‘Junior’ as suffix.
Yesterday we went to see the Magic show of P.C. Sorcar Young that was conducted at the Rabindra Bhawan at Asansol. Rabindra Bhawan has a beautiful auditorium and nice seating arrangement. It was perhaps two decades later that I was visiting a magic show. P.C. Sorcar Young as he is known, or prefers to be known, is son of a famous magician of the same name.
The items of presentation of such show has largely remained same. The previous magic show that I had seen was that of Jadugar Anand (of Jabalpur), who again is a big magician. His show used to be quite a show of light and music and stories. In contrast, Sorcar’s show was comparitively quite simple. It included much of usual tricks and performances that have now become the standard part of magic shows. However his simplicity was only a facade – and this was quite a show.
What struck me most, and what I really saw for the first time was the ability of the magician to tell the exact numbers or the phrases & even solve mathmatical formulae written on a blackboard while he was blind-folded. This was quite impressive. This section of the program was named by him as “x-ray eyes”. It seemed that it was not just trick, but some sort of telepathy or para-psychic ability. That was really interesting. I had read about such ability only in the swami’s of yore. However this was the first time that I saw such a thing in front of me. Was it hypnosis, was it telepathy, was it mind reading? (For that matter, are these things real?) That secret might perhaps remain buried with the magician and never be revealed. It was highly improbable that this ability of his could have been a mere coincidence or a mere statistical fit. Nor it could be rigging, for it was an open invitation to the audience to come and write (even I was invited individually – though I politely declined).
But it was interesting to see that a person who is a professional magician, without claiming to be a religious swami could do this in a situation that was totally divorced from religion. Could common mortals do such thing with little discipline of their minds? What if the students could read the mind of their paper setters? What if the journalists could read the mind of others? what if the CIA could read the mind of terrorists (what if the other way round?)? How strange the consequences, and how interesting the possibilities – perhaps like a world of fairy tale if only if everyone could do it…I am told that such things are possible with high and rigourous mental discipline. But then it also needs some sort of inborne abilities – something like Shakuntala Devi who could solve any arithmetical puzzle of any length of digit in a blink of eye. She even defeated computers in calculations…
Also equally impressive was his ability to draw beautiful diagrams blindfolded. That was really an artistic ability, apart from his magical ability. To make beautiful drawings itself is an art, and to make such drawing blindfolded from any innocuous lines or crosses is a greater ability, particularly when the whole thing is being done extempore and live, and that too blindfolded. This was again an interesting dimension of the magician that impressed me.
Overall, the show was entertaining with lights, sounds, music and performers with interesting dresses apart from the magic itself.