Indian circuses moan lack of animals : CNN IBN Report

[Guest guest]

*Should we ask these guys to write to Cartier and Help in Suffering and

Elephant Family? What do you say?*

 

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/circuses-fail-to-bring-in-laughs/26538-8.html

Circuses fail to bring in laughs

Hindol Sengupta

CNN-IBN

Posted Sunday , November 19, 2006 at 17:30

Updated Sunday , November 19, 2006 at 17:39

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DOWN & OUT: These days, there are empty seats and a shabby look that greet

one at a circus.

<http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/26538/circuses-fail-to-bring-in-laughs.html>

 

*Mumbai:* The last time I went to a circus, it didn't have empty seats. It

didn't look so shabby and the artistes seemed a whole lot cooler. But those

days are gone.

 

The Kohinoor Circus has been coming to Mumbai for a decade but these are its

worst days. Everything looks unkempt and broken down. After the government

stopped tigers, lions, bears, leopards and monkeys from circus acts in 1995,

their hay days were over.

 

" The animals have been banned since 1998. So business is down by 50 per

cent, " says a motorcycle stuntman in Kohinoor Circus, Javed Ali.

 

" The applause is a lot less now, so it feels bad, " says the Kohinoor Circus

manager, Rajen Lal.

 

There were 50 circuses touring India in the early 90s. There are barely 10

left today. Daily earnings used to be Rs 1 lakh on a good day. Today, it

barely touched Rs 10,000. But there are some enthusiasts left.

 

" One can see it on television with visuals but watching it live is great

fun, " says a circus enthusiast, Manali Mehta.

 

With ever-rising costs and stifling competition, for circuses across the

country it's the winter of discontent. The old acts are failing to bring the

laughs.