Capturing the ABCs of Magic

A journalist with American television, ABC News, who has made a number of reports on sports, arts and culture, Ben Barnier and his cameraman, Gallagher were at the Magic Academy the other day. Mr. Ben was assigned with a new job of introducing some magical faces of great Indian democracy before the world. With this aim he landed in Mumbai on 16th and immediately rushed to Thiruvananthapuram some 2000 kms towards the south, to meet India’s own Houdini, Gopinath Muthukad, who has been upholding the motto, ‘magic with a mission’.
Camera's first blink
Mr. Gallagher’s camera winked its eyes for the first time in India for taking the footages of an active magic class that was going on at the Academy’s upstairs classroom. The trainer was Mr. Muthukad and the trainees comprised of a 64-year-old Rajan to 10-year-old Vivek. The ABC TV crew was just baffled to find the degree of enthusiasm the group of students had earned through the means of magical art, in spite of age differences.
“Their [students’] eyes gleam in happiness and I understand how much does magic rejuvenate their minds. It’s just beautiful to watch their performance that surely gifts a sense in life”, says Mr. Ben. Mr. Ben has earlier made a memorable production based on a French couple at their 80s celebrating 50th anniversary of their marriage. Magic could be a practical means for defending our elders from the menacing consequences of aging, he believes.

Reasonable dreams
The Ben-Gallagher duo has now trimmed their dream into a reasonable size. “India is a vast country of umpteen diversities. We don’t expect that we can take home all these magnificence with our short stay this time. Now we have made our objective reasonable and to visit a few cultural and devotional centres in south and north India starting from covering the natural springs of medicated water at Varkala’, Mr. Ben told.