Oct 9, 2012
At 26, Samarth Shenoy, true to his name, displays courage and resourcefulness of a seasoned stunt performer and magician who has mystified and entertained people of all ages with his sleight of hand magic performances. His recent stunt of 310 kms grueling blindfolded ride on a 100cc scooter from Mysore to Mangalore, has earned him a name in the Limca Book of Records, a rare accomplishment for a youngster.
It looks as though Samarth has inherited the valiant fighting spirit of his mother late Veena Dhari who had created quite a stir with her bold and fortitudinous actions. Samarth is not ready to accept that he is half as courageous as his mother was. “I do believe I have inherited my mother’s indomitable valor but somehow I feel I am not as strong as she was. I sometimes develop cold feet at the last moment, unlike my mother who never lost courage”, he reasons.
One cannot, however, deny him the doubt of his own perseverance, hard work and single-minded devotion in making him an achiever that he is and that too at a young age. He calls his blindfolded ride as a stunt and not a magic though he used a few magic tricks to ease his exhaustive ride. He decided to undertake the daring stunt when he came to know that no one had tried such a long blindfolded ride so far in India. It was quite a daring and bold stunt considering that Samarth and his 11-member team faced numerous hurdles during the 11 hour long Mysore-Mangalore journey.
Bumpy Ride
The blindfolded journey resumed after Jagannath Shenoy of Ganesh Beedi blind folded him tying the cloth. While the ride till Hassan was smooth and amusing Samarth had a bumpy ride from then on till Uppinangady due to the heavy rains they encountered. Samarth says they were prepared for the rain “but we never expected it to rain so heavily and that too for such long hours. It rained heavily when I was encountering the Ghat section and communicating with my support team became a herculean task”. There was delay due to rain and there were suggestions to stop the ride at Uppinangady. But Samarth did not want to give up after the tedious journey and persisted with the journey to Mangalore and he succeeded.
If it was not magic how Samarth did achieve it and did he not risk his life by undertaking such a stunt? According to him there is risk in all sorts of stunts but it is also challenging and the thrill factor makes up for the risk factor. “I use a little magical touch to reduce the risk”, he replies. He recalls how he had earlier performed an escape stunt in a can filled with water. When the lid was closed from outside his long mane which had come up as he was in water had caught in the lid of the can, thus delaying his escape and endangering his life.
During the Mysore-Mangalore blind-folded ride he was assisted by troupe members of Ranga Swaroopa, Mangalore, a performing troupe. He says he had one rider each on the left and right side who signaled him with vehicle horns. If there was a hump or a pot hole the co-rider used to give one horn thus indicating there is a hump within the next 50 meters. Similarly if he was going too left the co-rider used to signal through a long horn. Many tricks were used to communicate through signals during the journey.
Samarth had a 6 month preparation for the Mysore-Mangalore blindfolded ride. He rode at least 12 to 15 times from Mysore-Mangalore just to ‘get a feel’ of the road. “This is very important for a blind-folded ride because I visualized myself as a visually challenged person and wanted to have that feel of the road”, he asserts.
Caught in Magical Charm
Samarth developed interest in magic at a young age of 13 after watching a magic show in Mangalore. Soon he bought a magic book from Athree but could follow nothing from that. Later he got hold of a cassette which taught him the basic nuances of magic and gave him deeper insight into the world of magic. He used to perform at various local celebrations during temple feasts, jathras etc. When 14 he got an opportunity to participate in an International Brotherhood of Magic competition held at Kannoor. It was just by fluke that he could participate in the competition. One Kampa Gopinath, a magic toy seller had seen him performing Billiard Ball act with 9 balls (finger juggling) and asked him to participate in the competition. He did not have enough money to pay the entry ticket of Rs. 300/- which was quite high in the 90’s and one of his uncles helped him with the money. As predicted by his guru he won the first prize and Rs. 3000/- winning prize in that competition. That proved to be his first major step into the field of magic where he also began to feel that he could take magic as a profession. During this competition he also found his guru Hashin, who further fine tuned his skills in magic. He got a rare opportunity to go to Switzerland at the age of 15, where for 3 months he got opportunity and exposure to perfect his skills.
Performing magic is not a trick or skullduggery, says Samarth. In the west magicians are highly respected because people consider them as entertainers. In India, there is a feeling that magician are fooling people, which is quite an erroneous thinking. There are many varieties in magic but Samarth is adept in sleight of the hand manipulation act wherein he uses common items like balls, cards or birds, to perform and entertain.
Very soon Samarth is getting ready to perform another stunt ‘fire cracker escape’ and he is doing intense preparations for it. In this Samarth will be tied with 17 feet long chains and covered with a garland of crackers. He will then be put inside a tiny box and a crane would lift the box to a height of 70 ft. The box will blast when lit with fire and Samarth will have to escape within no time. If he does this stunt successfully he will create a world record in his name because no one has escaped from such a height.
Samarth has maturity beyond his age and he is determined in scaling greater heights in this field. He has been able to change the perception of people about magic and has succeeded in selling it as an entertainment in itself, to corporate clients.
He has come a long way when he used to go to every medical house in Switzerland with 300 francs in his hands when his mother told him she was HIV positive, asking whether they have any cure for AIDS, as it was referred to in those days. He recalls with gratitude the help and support given to him by his aunt Maroli Sabitha Kamath, relatives and friends.
Samarth is quite capable of leaving an imprint with his extraordinary and innovative stunts and magic skills, entertaining people in the process. Of course, he would set more challenging stunts for himself considering that he has knack for challenging himself.
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