It all started in Egypt, I’m told, where acrobatics, balancing acts, rope walking and spectacles of human skill and daring were recorded as far back as 2500 BC. Though the circus (Latin for ‘circle’) as we know it today harks back to the amphitheatres of ancient Rome, devoted largely to chariot races, gladiator combat, animal slaughter, mock battles and similar blood sports. Of which the Circus Maximus was said to be the most spectacular.
Equestrian tricks became part of circus repertoire in the late 18th century courtesy one Philip Astley, who is also credited with inventing the performing ring. It was also during this period that this form of theatrical entertainment spread across Europe, including Russia under Empress Catherine. Come 19th century, America would take on the mantle of world leader in circus innovations; Barnum & Bailey’s Circus, the top act.
Recently, the Great Bombay Circus, one of India’s oldest circus troupes set up its ‘big top’ in Chandigarh. After going past it a zillion times over a month, I finally gave in to the child in me and showed up at the ticket counter. Accompanied by three youthful friends over sixty. That evening would count as one of the most nostalgic in recent times.
Bright lights, kitschy posters, cheery visitors and Bollywood music greeted us on arrival. It was heartening to see a swelling crowd and the seats were half full when we got there. I had forgotten though how grimy and dusty it can be, yet, the glittering attire of the performers outranked everything. As the evening progressed, it became evident that not much had changed in the tricks, acts or performances!
Other than the near absence of animals due to the growing clamour by activists to ban forcible instruction, and perhaps the inclusion of fire-eaters from Nigeria, the acrobats, jugglers, balancing acts, endurance skills, motor-biking, hula hooping were all there in their modern-day blingy avatars.
Puneetinder Kaur Sidhu, travel enthusiast and the author of Adrift: A junket junkie in Europe is the youngest of four siblings born into an aristocratic family of Punjab. Dogged in her resistance to conform, and with parental pressure easing sufficiently over the years, she had plenty of freedom of choice. And she chose travel.
She was born in Shimla, and spent her formative years at their home, Windsor Terrace, in Kasumpti while schooling at Convent of Jesus & Mary, Chelsea. The irrepressible wanderlust in her found her changing vocations midstream and she joined Singapore International Airlines to give wing to her passion. She has travelled extensively in Asia, North America, Australia, Europe, South Africa and SE Asia; simultaneously exploring the charms within India.
When she is not travelling, she is writing about it. Over the past decade or so, she has created an impressive writing repertoire for herself: as a columnist with Hindustan Times, as a book reviewer for The Tribune and as a contributor to travel magazines in India and overseas. Her work-in-progress, the documenting of colonial heritage along the Old Hindustan-Tibet Road, is an outcome of her long-standing romance with the Himalayas.
