Muthukad’s Show at Sikkim Prompts Minister to Replicate Magician’s NGO

GANTOK:
A strong message of social reformation that underlay an array of tricks by internationally-acclaimed Gopinath Muthukad at his show in the city impressed Sikkim Health Minister G.T. Dhungel, who expressed the government’s wish to go for a Gangtok replication of the magician’s establishment in Kerala.

Noting that he had an official trip to Thiruvananthapuram coming up this year, the Minister said he would make that an occasion to also visit Muthukad’s Different Art Centre (DAC) which educates and empowers persons with intellectual disabilities. ”I will be meeting Muthukad at the voluntary organisation. We need to mobilise a similar movement in Sikkim,” he told the illusionist here on Thursday evening. The 90-minute show, which was part of Muthukad’s two-month cross-country ‘Inclusive India’ expedition, wowed the Minister with its 12-item package carrying the motto of magic as an art for social reformation. Its focus was on supporting all individuals and integrating them with the mainstream. Dhungel hailed Muthukad for his compassionate attitude to the differently-abled, describing the magician’s mission as “exemplary”.

The Minister’s announcement to replicate DAC in Sikkim came on the fifth anniversary of the non-governmental organisation that trains people in magic as well as in art-forms such as music, dance, drama, filmmaking and painting that boosts concentration which is essential for performing illusory tricks. DAC, which was inaugurated on November 7, 2019, enjoys non-financial support from the Union Government’s Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Muthukad revealed that DAC’s has been evolving into a world-class art centre for the mentally-challenged children with talent, and enable them to learn skills before as well as present them before a wider audience. “We have been striving to enrich the physical and mental development of the differently-abled through various art-forms, thereby enabling them to stand on their own,” he added.

Muthukad, a recipient of the coveted Merlin Award (2016) considered as Oscar in magic, began his campaign from Kanyakumari on October 6 (World Cerebral Palsy Day). ‘Inclusive India’, with 41 events, has stopovers along the central plains, the hilly east, Gujarat in the west and Jammu & Kashmir up north before culminating in the national capital on December 3 (International Day for Persons with Disabilities).