Thursday, May 1, 2008

Feud in Magicland!

Feeling quite dazed after yesterday's magic show.Due to the high level of excitement I had not checked carefully the name of the magician, it is PC Sorcar and the magic companyh is Indrajal however this was 'Master and Young' PC Sorcar and not PC Sorcar Junior, whose magic I have grown up watching! The result is that though my daughter watched enthralled I felt cheated in some manner.
I have heard a lot about PC Sorcar Senior, the original PC Sorcar from my maternal grandmother who had lived in the same place in the erstwhile East Bengal and was friends with the family. How he paid for some good in a shop and asked the shop owner to look carefully at the note, the owner duely checked it and locked it in the cash box only to find a blank piece of paper the next morning. He ofcourse promptly complained to Pc's mother who had to pay up! Then my grandmother's mom was also closely associated with the family and was fortunate enough to watch his tongue feat performed in the informal atmosphere of a friend's living room. The tongue was brought for inspection in a saucer, needless to say, no one wanted to have a close look!
Now, the senior PC Sorcar had two sons and a daughter, as far as I know. The elder son PC Sorcar Junior made a name for himself in magic and it is his shows that I have grown up watching. PC Senior's daughter is the wife of my father's close friend and we used to get passes from her. The younger son was in the US, my great grandmom was close to them and even showed us pictures of the younger son and his family.We had written this son off as far as the magical tradition goes and all eyes was on PC Sorcar Junior, at least in India. As far as I remember Indrajal was PC Jr's creation.PC Junior is synonymous with magic in Calcutta at least and made a name for himself some escape stunts and by making whole trains disappear, he even challenged the Satya Sai Baba in a magical contest. That was ofcourse hushed up, but people in Calcutta still remember it!
PC Jr has three daughters, on my previous visit to Calcutta I saw a poster of his eldest daughter who is continuing the magical tradition.
Then who is this Master PC Sorcar, has to be the younger son's son. I have new seen any performance by the younger son, don't know when he arrived in India either, but being brought up on PC Sorcar stories I was totally intrigued. How did this PC Sorcar (Young) become "world famous' without my knowing it! The magic tricks were the same, the lines were the same but I had no peace of mind!
Anyhow Bangaloreans are least interested in genealogies and we happy to receive 'the newest PC Sorcar' in the block. Though the boy mentions his grand father and father's achievements, not a word did he speak of his uncle, so there is rivalry here, feeling sad for Senior PC, his tricks are being used by his sons but not together but against each other. His legacy is thus divided and no real new innovation is being made. This could have been the first family of Indian magic but alas the family is divided.
Ah well, at least my daughter got a feel of the Sorcar brand of magic, and we took in the old world ambience of the Town Hall.

I'd Like to Add
There are some points in favour of the lad though. First, he bears an uncanny resemblance to PC Sorcar Senior, while neither of his sons looked like him. Moreover, he has preserved the simplicity of the magic tricks and has carefully weaved in his own innovations. His smile, particularly is the smile of PC Senior. He has also expressed himself through music (must look up his work) which means that he is not restricting himself to magic alone. He is charming enough, though I just adore PC Jr's style which is so innocent yet charming. That's it I guess, if your curiosity is aroused give him a dekho at Town Hall and tell me about your impression, he will be here till the end of the month. Are there any Bangaloreans reading this post?

2 comments:

Alapana said...

There is one bangalorean reading this blog:) always,but lazy to comment.

Anonymous said...

:)