Taking a ringside view after long years under the big tent

Sherly Sumithra and Damodar Bhosley, renowned Marathi circus artistes

 

by Sucheth P R 
Thalassery: Basking in the memories of those golden days when she thrilled thousands of viewers with mesmerising performances, Sherly Sumithra, a Marathi circus artiste, shared her experiences on the sidelines of the circus artistes' meet held at the Circus Academy here on Sunday. The memories of an adventurous life as a circus artiste echoed in her bold expressions. Joining the world of circus at a tender age of seven, she soon became the most sought-after artiste from the major circus troupes in India, with her unique talents and stunning beauty. After long years of a nomadic life with circus troupes that toured the length and breadth of the nation, and now in her middle age, she has settled at Kakkad in Kannur. Allergic to an idle life, she tried her hands as a beautician in many beauty parlours in Kannur and Kozhikode, but quit the job as she developed hand tremors as an after-effect of the frequent performances of many hazardous items while in the circus.
  Born to a Jain father and an Indo-Anglian mother, both circus artistes who fell in love and got married with the blessings of the Maharaja of Mysore, Sherly spent her early life at Kagwade in Maharshtra. Group and single trapeze, single rope cycling, cross-bar, revolving trapeze, Rezi dance, sword box, double boldness, performances with hippopotamus, elephant and tiger every act in the Indian and Russian circuses was performed by her. Golden, Jupiter, Oriental, Great Gemini, Kamala, Rio, Sunlight, Raymond and Raj Kamal circuses availed of her unique talents which created an adrenaline rush among spectators. The performances on the trapeze would freeze the brain for a few seconds and the artistes had to run for a while to escape from that horrible feeling of being engulfed in darkness, Sherly recalls.
  Sherly says that sexual harassment was common in almost all circus companies and unless the artiste has the boldness to resist, they would succumb to it. "Whatever talent a female artiste has, she is ultimately viewed by many circus owners as an object of sexual gratification. Many leave the field because of this unbearable torture," she says. According to her, there were many instances when powerful gang of female artistes had to intervene to save many girls who were made slave to owners. "There was an item in Kamala Circus where a tiger would ascend on top of an elephant and I used to sit on the tiger, clad in a red apron, carrying a trident, resembling Goddess Durga. Nowadays, I feel the presence of Durga in me on some occasions," says Sherly.
 She also narrated a strange incident when she visited a Jain temple in Maharshtra recently.

"I stood near an elephant. It touched my head with its trunk and within seconds lifted me and kept me on top of it. The devotees were so astonished that many offered huge amounts of money to the mahout." 

Life post retirement is hard for circus artistes as many of them require frequent medical assistance after a life of strenuous performances. With the irregular salaries in circus and no savings, Rs 1,000 pension would not be enough to meet even the medical expenses. According to Sherly, many are denied their provident fund also.
22 April 2013
newindianexpress.com