A VISITING popular Indian magician recalled the harrowing experience he had in Bahrain more than two decades ago when a stunt went horribly wrong.
Gopinath Muthukad was performing the Great Fire Escape feat in front of thousands of spectators on November 16, 1998 when a miscalculation ended up with him sustaining life-threatening burns.
He was admitted to the American Mission Hospital where he underwent treatment for three weeks before he could fly back home.
However, Mr Muthukad said he learnt a valuable lesson that day – never give up.
On Friday, he was presented the Lead Humanitarian Award by Bahrain Media City in honour of his initiative, the Different Art Centre (DAC), to secure the lives of differently-abled children.
“I remember it very clearly, a fireball coming my way and behind me was a wall with just a small door,” Mr Muthukad told the GDN.
“I’m grateful to God that my brain acted sensibly at the moment and I plunged into the fire – had I jumped back I would have died.
“I ended up with burns all over my face, chest and hands; I decided not to get the scars fixed as they remind me of the lesson I learnt. They tell me to always look back from where I started; that’s how we should be in life.
“Remember your roots and learn from experience, and never give up.”
The veteran was performing in front of more than 4,000 spectators in an open ground near Shaikh Isa Bin Salman Causeway as part of an event organised by the Bahrain Diabetes Society to mark World Diabetes Day.
Handcuffed and in steel chains, he was lifted by a crane and lowered into a haystack soaked with kerosene which was then set on fire.
“I had practised the night before, but without the fire and it was perfect,” he recalled.
“It’s all about timing. By the time the fire catches up, the magician should free himself and come out of it.
“On that day, we realised later, petrol was used instead of kerosene and the hay was dry grass. The fire caught up quick, the timing did not synchronise and the act failed.”
Mr Muthukad first performed the stunt in 1995, making him the first magician in the world to perform an escape act in the style of Harry Houdini’s act of 1904.
The motivational speaker and author, born in Kerala, took to magic at the age of seven and has performed on more than 8,000 stages in India and abroad.
The 58-year-old, after a glorious career spanning 45 years, gave up magic last year when he decided to fully dedicate his life to support the differently-abled children.
“Magic is my passion and it was difficult to give up on that, but I realised that it was my calling to support these children,” he said.
“As a person who adores magic, my attention was on how magic could help these innocent children.”
Mr Muthukad opened DAC in 2019, under the umbrella of his Academy of Magical Sciences, the first of its kind in the world, set up in 2016. Currently there are 200 students in DAC.
“The centre has changed the life of many and is sure to change the lives of many more in future,” he said, while urging support for DAC which offers free and complete education to the students.
The academy also offers a platform for magicians from all over the country to gather, debate and seek solutions to their problems, and a home for street performers to provide a decent life to destitute artistes.
raji@gdn.com.bh
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