As the entire crowd went by illusionist Gopinath Muthukad’s request to look keenly at a glass-cube in front of them, the handy object cracked open and freed the red flower inside it. 

The trick substantiated the magician’s core message: social inclusivity can break open the barriers for people with disabilities.

Muthukad, who is on an all-India tour, performed at Jharkhand Council of Educational Research & Training (JCERT) here today. He showcased items that highlighted the spirit of supporting people with different abilities. Each item earned loud applause from the onlookers, highlighting his motto of magic as an art for social reformation.

“The rose that sprang out symbolises the innocent soul of any new-born. All of us deserve a decent life; only that all must get equal opportunities,” he said after the new trick, reinforcing the mission of ‘Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities’.

The entire set of items presented in Bhubaneswar on Thursday evening went well with the activities at Kerala-born Muthukad’s trailblazing ‘Magic Planet’, which is the world’s first such theme park that protects public-oriented art-forms and street performers. 

Two months is the span of the ‘Inclusive India’ campaign by the illusionist, who is a winner of the International Merlin Award which is considered as the Oscar in the field of magic.

“Those with physical disabilities suffer in three ways: physical limitations, social exclusivity and emotional insufficiency. This is particularly stark in our country,” according to the winner of the Merlin Award (2011) instituted by the US-based International Magicians’ Society. “My magic bridges this vulnerable group with society at large.”

The expedition covers the length and breadth of the country, bolstering the ethos of the Thiruvananthapuram-based Magic Planet’s decade-old goals: familiarising the public with wizardry, reviving street tricks and employing this art to empower the marginalised. The magician had Cuttack as his previous stopover on October 15, while the next destination is Jamshedpur (October 20).

Muthukad’s trip, which began from the southern tip of the peninsula on October 6, is punctuated with stopovers along the central plains, the hilly east, Gujarat in the west and Jammu & Kashmir up north before culminating in the national capital. 

The Kanyakumari-Delhi journey, which is to end on December 3, disseminates his ideas around national integration, upholding age-old values and working against communalism as well as terrorism.

“By lighting lamps, we have been drawing public attention to the benefits and vitality of equal opportunities,” says Muthukad, who heads an NGO named Different Art Centre (DAC) which is steering the mission that enjoys non-financial support from the union government’s Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. “Our voyage covers all the states. We campaign across the mainland with a total of 41 events that includes the inauguration and culmination.”

While the start of the ride on October 6 was World Cerebral Palsy Day, the conclusion on December 3 is International Day for Persons with Disabilities. Overall, 36 locations dot the campaign. ‘Inclusive India’ was flagged off from Goa by the Governor P. S. Sreedharan Pillai on October 5. Across its journey, the campaign has been circulating innovative awareness-generation video document. Each event is being organised in collaboration with the DEPwD’s regional institute or centre.

As 60-year-old Muthukad notes, the idea is not just to spread information on the scope of creating equal opportunities for children with disabilities. “We highlight the need for opportunities that can express their special talent so as to boost their confidence and self-esteem. All these, through the effective use of the boundless entertainment value of magic.”

Muthukad is the Executive Director of DAC he founded five years ago. Way back in 1995, he became the world’s first magician to perform an escape act in the stunning style of the legendary Harry Houdini (1874-1926). While the DAC develops and implements an innovative program of ‘Magic Training’ for children with disabilities, the NGO has gone on to emerge as a pioneer in facilitating professional performance platforms for trained magicians with special needs.

The December 3 culmination event at New Delhi will see the participation of ministers and other parliamentarians besides top government officials. This is Muthukad’s fifth such all-India venture using magic to spread social messages.