Circus

Nice to get back here. I see that the posts haven't exactly been crashing like before.

I recovered from the 2 months of exam fever day before yesterday and my mind has been exploring various possibilities since then to break free from the cob webs that have surrounded me.
Came up with the first one last night- a trip to Mumbai . And the second idea struck my mind this evening when I saw a hoarding on the road- Watching a circus show.
Wow! The fond but vague memories of childhood sailed across my eyes and I thought, why not?
My dad and I set off and upon reaching the ground we found, not to our surprise, that there weren't too many people queuing up. Bought the best ticket (200 bucks) and struggled through the rush (Yes, however few the number of people may be, there will always be an unwanted scuttle at any place that could do with a peaceful line)
Having heard that there will be snacks and water on the offer inside, we chose not to go in with any food.

Up there were trapezes and the proceedings started in a languid fashion. I started seeing the signs in the first 5 minutes- scantily clad girls jumping around unnecessarily with some horrendous dance moves to complement the insipid music being played.
The trapeze act was decent but for a couple of BIG bloopers. Never mind- that they put in so much and look so graceful is good enough. (Mind you, they look graceful far up there performing those acts- the moment they get down to ground, you wonder how many days must it have been since they last took a bath)
I literally yawned my way through the gymnastics and the dog and parrot shows.
but something that started disturbing me in the gymnastics was the tender age of some of the children in there- some as young as 6 or 7 risking injuries.
And that led me to wonder about the kind of lives these people might be leading.

We bought a water bottle meanwhile and as i opened the seal, I figured out to my horror that water was up to the brim as opposed to the standard filling where it is filled only till the neck of the bottle. Chose not to drink it. (15 bucks)

Then came on the animals-horses, elephants. Gosh! How jarred they looked.
In between, was some constant fueling of proceedings with ridiculously unfunny stuff from the jokers.

Then came on a stunning roller skates performance where the artists had really put their bodies on the line. And there came in again, a thought about CIRCUS.

These people are basically nomads where they literally survive through their days. With the number of people turning up to watch Circus declining by the day, their earning ain't getting any better.
100 odd people to be fed and given pay; one injury and the medical guys give you a tough time. And who can forget the animals, their care. With some good intervention of the animal rights activists and all the restrictions they impose nowadays, the life of the manager clearly isn't bliss.

The children at circus not undergoing any level of schooling gets to you and semi-naked girls hopping around to catch attention is disgusting.

Why do they still do it?
*Perhaps it's still better than begging and living in the slums.
*Perhaps because the security of being in the group. Exploitation is a major issue in our country. And trust me, the girls in there looked like the prostitutes they show in movies.

Whatever it is, the standards are appalling.

I had a throbbing head ache half an hour into the show and through it. We actually left it an hour earlier and still we were among the last to leave. :D

And yes, we also took a pack of Lays (20 bucks) and a Jumpin (15)
Thus we wasted a total of Rs 255, three hours and a water bottle.

I apologized to dad for having suggested the insane idea :D

Whatever, I've decided that

That was the last time I went to watch a circus show

Looking forward to a cool week in Mumbai now :)