C-CIRCUS COMES TO TOWN [PART-III]

PART- III

THE CIRCUS PEOPLE.

The circus fever had caught Sonarpur. Those who had come for the first
days show were in praise of the circus. There was chatter among the
school children in their classrooms and whispering was spreading among
friends about the circus. Those who had witnessed the Show were giving
detailed descriptions while the listeners looked blankly for they were
yet to see the circus.

The circus had run successfully full house for three days, for the
three regular shows. On the fourth day special announcement was made at
the circus ground over the loud speaker, " Friends, we have added
another new animal to our show. It is the hippopotamus. You can see
this huge animal in our circus ring at our usual shows. Come, Come,
Come to our show in great numbers." Those who had come were happy and
exchanged words - " We are really lucky that we can see a live
hippo."

A child cried out, " O mummy I had never seen a hippo but read about it
in my books. It is so big. Will it bite us?" The others standing close
by laughed at the child's exclamation.

Popularity of the circus began to rise. This circus ground previously
had been a desolate place but this whole circus affair changed the air
of this place. Roadside vendors had lined and put up their mobile
stalls and made money out of their brisk business. So much of gathering
and merry making could be seen all around this isolated place of
Sonarpur town. In this way the circus had run successfully for a week
now.

As usual the summer vacations started. Schools would remain closed for
a month and a half. The summer was at its height now. Those children
staying near the circus ground came during the early morning hours to
get a glimpse of the members of the troupe. Their regular presence
increased intimacy with the circus people. Words and greetings
were
exchanged and friendship developed.

Stanley the clown was very friendly with the children. After his
morning practice session, he came out every day at the main gate and
sat with those children who were loitering out side and spoke to them.
His first day's acquaintance started with, " Hello children, I am
Stanley. May I know your names please?"

" I am Radha, I am Amit, I am Sonu, I am Shikha ?????? and many more
names were uttered." These children felt as though they had got
something new out of this world and felt elevated at being spoken to by
a circus man. Radha asked, " Mr. Stanley, what do you do in the
circus?" In reply he said, " When you see me in the ring, you will not
be able to recognize me. Can you guess what do I do." Pointing his
finger in a circular movement towards all the children he said, " If
any of you can tell me what I perform, I will tell you a secret." No
one was able to give him an answer. After a long silence Stanley said,
" I am the funniest man in the ring. This is a clue, now any one of you
can give the answer - understood."

In a chorus the children spelt out ???. "The
Clown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

" Ah ha at last you have got it. O.K. I have to go now. Meet you
later." So saying Stanley went in.

The children went home happily talking among themselves about their
wonderful encounter with Stanley. On the other side, much was being
discussed about the circus and the circus men. Nearly every day, the
colourful circus van traversed all the way from the Circus ground to
the market place for buying things of their daily use. These men made
friends there at the market. It was the van that attracted many people
towards it. The van was coloured with different deep shades of red,
blue, yellow, green, purple, brown and black and one could see sketches
of animals, objects and abstract figures painted on the body of this
'unique van'. No doubt all these things made the van very
attractive.

Ramaiya was the man in charge of buying the goods from the market.
While everything they bought was in the process of packing and loading,
Ramaiya sat with the townsmen and chatted with them. Thus the Sonarpur
people came to know a lot about the life of the people of a circus
through Ramaiya and his helpers.

Duty called the veterinary surgeon to the circus to check up the health
problems of the animals there. Mr. Shah the veterinary surgeon had been
called in because there was some problem with the hippopotamus. As the
hippo was unfit, the first three days of the show went on without its
presence. Mr. Shah made a daily visit to the circus every morning for
the animals' routine checkup. His son Kumar was having his summer
holidays and begged his father to take him to the circus ground when he
went there. At first Mr. Shah was not at all willing to listen to his
son's request. He told him, " You see Kumar they don't allow outsiders
to have a peep at their living -style in the circus. Since you are
pestering me I will ask Mr. Raman and only if he permits, you can
accompany me then."

Kumar said, " Thank you Papa, I will wait for that day." The next day
Mr. Shah brought the news that Mr. Raman had granted permission to
Kumar and that he would not allow any one else other than Kumar to
accompany his father. Kumar was very happy and that night he had a very
light sleep, waking up now and again to see the sun come out soon so
that he could go with his dad to the circus ground.

That morning Kumar had a memorable experience. He went with his father
and was greeted by a smiling Mr. Raman.

"Good Morning," said Mr. Raman.

In reply Kumar said, " Good Morning Uncle."

In the meantime Mr. Shah went to the animal enclosure and sorted out
their problems. In some cases he even had to clean and bandage the
wounds of some of the horses and elephants.

At this time a small boy came up to Kumar and said, " Hi, I am Raju.
What's your name?"

"Hi, I am Kumar, I have come with my Dad."

" Oh, Mr. Shah The Vet. is your dad? O.K. let me have a word with him."
So saying Raju went up to Mr. Shah and spoke something to him very
softly and then came running towards Kumar. He caught hold of his hand
and said, " Come with me. I have taken permission from your dad and I
will show you all around." So these two children went together and Raju
took him first to his tent. " This is where I live," said Raju.

Kumar could not imagine that these people lived in tents. The floor of
the tent was laid with a thick mat and there were two folding cots with
beddings on them. Near the beds were two tables spread out with a
glass, a plate, a cup, a jug of water and some personal belongings. " I
live in this tent with my uncle who is a trapeze artist and he is also
a trainer of gymnastics. He has gone for his practice and when everyone
is back we will have our breakfast," said Raju.

" Raju, What do you do in the circus. Of course I remember the other
day when I came to see the circus I saw you with your dog Lucky showing
those wonderful tricks. Do you perform any other item?"
" No, No. Only I perform The Famous Raju-Lucky Show."

Soon both of them moved about from tent to tent. Raju introduced Kumar
to the others. Kumar saw their bathroom and toilet and felt so sad
about it. Kumar could not even imagine how such a small boy like Raju
could live all alone in this tent life away from his family members.
Suddenly he heard the ringing of a bell. Raju told him that the bell
rang to indicate that breakfast was ready. All the people went to the
dining place. Some took their breakfast there itself while some others
carried their plates and had their food either in their tents or in
groups. Kumar was offered a plate but he shied away saying, " I have
already had my breakfast."

After a while a boy came running to tell Kumar that his father was
calling him. He exchanged a smile with Raju, shook hands and told him
that he would be coming again the next day.

That evening, at the play ground after their game of football was over,
Kumar called aside his friends and sat down leaning against the western
boundary wall with their legs stretched out. " I have something very
interesting to tell all of you," said Kumar.

Excitement began to mount among these boys and with bated breath they
waited for Kumar's story. Kumar related his experience inside the
circus enclosure and spoke about Raju. He told them that he would visit
the circus again the next day along with his father. " But I tell you
one thing," said he. " Please don't ask me to tell my dad to get
permission for the entry for all of you because my efforts will fail.
Mr. Raman has already told me about it. So I will visit the place and
give you all a vivid picture of what I see there."

So saying he got up to go home. The others simply sighed and said, "
You are a lucky guy yaar." The boys then made their way to their houses
from the play field.

To be continued??????????? .