Magic Camp kicks off in Kochi with an amazing Mathe-magic show

Sublime start: Legal luminary, retired Supereme Court Judge, V.R. Krishna Iyer inaugurates the summer magic camp at the library hall attached to the Traffic Training Park of the Ernakulam District Council for Child Welfare. He is flanked by (from left) Joint Secretary of the Council, V.M.Shamsudheen; Executive Director of the Magic Academy, Gopinath Muthukad; District Collector, Dr. M. Beena; Vice President of the Council, Sainaba Mammu; Assistant Development Commissioner, V.S. Soman; Committee member of the Council, M.M. Salim and Superintendant of the Park, K.P. Shaji.

Kochi: The summer magic camp for children jointly organised by the Ernakulam District Council for Child Welfare (DCCW) and the Magic Academy began here on 6th of April with a call by legal luminary, the Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer to use magic for unveiling truth behind fallacies and a stunning demonstration of magic in mathematics by the chief of the Academy, Gopinath Muthukad.

“Muthukad is making an admirable attempt to empower our younger generation. While learning magic, children should acquire the power to identify the truth of science behind everything we see in our life”, Mr. Krishna Iyer said during his inaugural address. “The reality remains within the visible exterior, and through learning magic, we get the power to see the inside of whatever we see”, he added.

District Collector and President of the DCCW, Dr. M. Beena presided over the function. She expressed the hope that the social responsibility upheld by the Magic Academy and its guide, Mr. Muthukad would reflect in the lessons imparted during the summer magic camp. Assistant Development Commissioner and Secretary of the DCCW, V.S. Soman welcomed the guests. Vice President of the Council, Sainba Mammu; Joint Secretary, V.M. Shamsudheen and committee member, M.M. Salim spoke on the occasion.

Mathe-magic
Soon after the inaugural function, it was the turn of Mr. Muthukad to stage a specially crafted magic show supported by mathematics and psychology. Four children were picked from the audience. While they formed a circle around magician with their eyes blindfolded, the magician took a paper and pen on which he wrote something apparently reading the minds of the four. The prediction was enclosed in an envelope and was clipped at the tip of a string that hung above a shallow vessel carrying differently numbered tokens from 1001 to 9999, by Dr. Beena.

Maths, Magic and Mind: A scene from the Mathe-magic show by Gopinath Muthukad.

Now the children were set free to approach the vessel carrying the heap of tokens and pick in random two tokens each in their hands. Now they had to write these numbers on the writing boards kept on two sides, on the stage. Sum of these numbers were calculated by the Dr. Beena and Mrs. Mammu. These totals were now written on a third writing board kept on the centre of the stage. The dignitaries worked out the total of these numbers, too. The final total was boldly written.

Now, as requested by Mr. Muthukad, Dr. Beena approached the envelope carrying the prediction and opened it. Now the paper was handed over to Mr. Iyer. He red it out alound through microphone and the number matched exactly with what was arrived on the board. Children, their parents and dignitaries were hugely impressed at the performance of the magician that surely pronounced that mathematics was a friendly subject. “See there is nothing supernatural with what I did. It is simply a play of mathematics that anybody can perform after thorough practicing”, Mr. Muthukad declared.

Caught in magic: Children who came to attend the summer magic camp seen engrossed by the the mathe-magic demonstration.

Following this video show titled, ‘The Greatest Illusions of Muthukad’ was held to demonstrate different faces modern magic. Then chapter first of the magical art was introduced before curious children by Mr. Muthukad who was supported by other faculties including Advocate Hariraj, Sreekumar and Ajith Kumar.

Day 1 at the magic camp plucks fruits and sweets from thin air

Magical production: A group of 12 little magicians stage a magical production at the Wonder World auditorium of the Magic Academy on 5th of April marking the inauguration of the Summer Magic Camp for children.

Thiruvananthapuram: The Summer magic camp for children organised by the Magic Academy was kicked off here on the 5th of April, with a brilliant performance by a team of 12 child magician. To do their job in style, all the 12 little prodigies came together towards the climax and performed a thrilling production magic.

Before getting into the climax number, they opened a wooden box and showed it empty. To further convince that nothing was inside, audience members were allowed to examine it to their satisfaction. Two members of the magic team, Thejas and Rahul closed the box. When opened, a little queen of magic emerged out of the box in a lightening speed. Clad in glittering costumes and wearing a crown, the little beauty threw a smile and waved her magic wand to produce a pot full of sweet preparation (Palpaayasam) and a bunch of ripe plantain fruit from nowhere. Together, the little magicians served these for the spectators.

Light of wisdom: Malayalam language expert, Dr. Ezhumattur Raja Raja Varma inaugurates the two-month-long summer magic camp by lighting a traditional lamp. From left: Chief Operator of the Magic Academy Research Centre, P. Thomas, Content Editor of this blog, K.P. Sivakumar and the Executive Director of the Magic Academy, Gopinath Muthukad.

Amazing the newcomers and their parents, were the child magicians Asmin, Alina, Anamika, Nadhiya, Nikhil, Rahul, Samson, Shanu, Rajeevan, Sidharth, Thejus and Rohith. Among them, Nadhiya was the first to enter the stage with her amazing trick of making unequal ropes equal in length. She also produced four flamboyant bouquets by just waving her towel. Following her, others in the team performed with talent and nobody wanted to be second to anyone. All of them have passed out of the lower and higher levels of summer classes conducted by the Academy during last year.

Earlier Malayalam language expert, Dr. Ezhumattur Raja Raja Varma inaugurated the summer magic camp. He said that magic was an art that could sprout creativity among its performers. “While performing magic one entertains as well as educates the audience with certain messages”, he added. Academy’s Executive Director, Gopinath Muthukad offered welcome address. Administrator, Arun Kumar G. expressed thanks. Following the function, first lesson in magic was unveiled before the participants by Mr. Muthukad.

The camp that offers scientific training in the art of magic at Poojappura and Kazhakuttam centres of the Academy would conclude on 31st of May.

Budding magicians: A group of 85 children of age group 10-15 have joined for the Summer Magic training at the Thiruvananthapuram and Kazhakuttam branches of the Magic Academy.