The clowns, with their mismatched costumes, oversized shoes, and hats, and noses resembling red peppers, moved in a clumsy manner, eliciting giggles from the audience. As tickets were sold to children, some included special markings that allowed them to join in the circus activities. This audience participation was a novel feature, suggested by Bosco to make his and his team’s participation a special event. Gopal thought it was a great idea and agreed to it.
The day came, and the evening show was underway. The big top was illuminated with colorful lights, casting a magical glow over the arena. The clowns marched down the red carpet towards the elephants, completely out of step with each other. They tried to mount the elephants in very awkward ways—one grabbed its tail, another its ear, and another its leg. None succeeded. The elephant mahout ordered the elephant to sit on the floor, and all three clowns got up and sat on the three-seater sofa on the back of the elephant. The mahout made a show of getting on the elephant by asking it to use its trunk to hoist him to his seat in front of the three-seater sofa.
The sofa, though well tied down to the elephant’s body, moved sideways like a seesaw. The buffoons clung to the sofa for dear life. The men at the ends tried to get to the center seat, causing the sofa to move more erratically. Their elephant ride, though intentionally disastrous, provoked endless side-splitting laughter from children and even adults. At the end of the ride, they all got down from the back of the elephant by a ladder, provoking more laughter.
Next, the horses went round and round in the circus arena, two horses side by side, with a teenager riding on them with one foot on the back of each horse. The crowd erupted in a chorus of “Aahs” and “Oohs” at the daring display. The elephants then performed all kinds of tricks: walking backwards, standing on a stool with all four legs, spinning in place, and picking up a clown and throwing him onto a cushion.
Then came the big cats. They growled, grunted, and roared in their cages. The circus performer entered the cage of the tiger and led it out, ordering it to stand on its hind legs on a stool. He cracked his whip several times in various ways, and the tiger understood and obeyed. Lastly, he put his hand in the tiger’s mouth, astonishing the audience. The whip cracker then came out of the lion cage with the lion, which bared its teeth and growled. The whip cracker whipped several times in various ways, and the lion went and sat on its stool. The lion danced in the arena, spun, walked backwards, rolled on its sides, and jumped through fiery hoops.
Then came the Bally Girls, hired from the local ballet company. The announcer made it known that the girls and women were locals, drawing a lot of applause. They sang, danced, and performed aerial acrobatics, with some intentionally falling onto the net below. The clowns returned to the arena, and the children with special tickets took pictures with them.
Now, Bosco transformed himself into a clown, carried by Ramduth, the monkey, now a gorilla, and dropped onto a cushion. Bosco stepped out of the cushion, and Ramduth appeared, clad only in his shorts with rippling muscles. He carried the huge gorilla all by himself, thanks to his yogic power. Biscuit the dog and Malini the cat morphed into two girls, and the gorilla carried them around inside the circus arena.
Bosco announced that any of the children with special tickets could come forward to be carried around by the gorilla. Quite a few stepped forward for a ride on the shoulders of the gorilla. A little later, Malini the cat morphed into a tiger away from the eyes of the spectators and walked into the arena with Biscuit the dog on her back. Bosco too rode the tiger. The children from the stands came forward to ride the tiger, showing no fear. There were many “Aahs” and “Oohs” coming from the gallery.
Biscuit the dog, dressed as a super dog, performed tricks in the arena. They all morphed back into humans. As Bosco sang, the team, now changed into girls, danced for the spectators. It was a grand success.