Walking the tightrope

Not an uncommon sight on the outskirts of big cities and smaller towns, in India. Or possibly, anywhere in the world. A family of street circus performers. Usually, with all their worldly belongings in a push cart, moving from place to place, wherever the roads take them. Putting up a simplistic circus acts, whenever the need for meals makes it necessary to do so. They seem to appear from nowhere and disappear into the crowds. Every sunrise, just another day, in their nomadic existence, doing just the minimum required to stay alive. People who don't seem to have given a thought to changing their way of life. Maybe they will also sell balloons on the side, but thats it. Born into a family of wanderers, life appears to stay unchanged, generation after generation.

4 bamboos

1 rope

1 used bicycle tyre

1 stick

a couple of pots [optional]

A straight view

A single minded determination

thats all it takes to create and walk the tight rope.

There is something awe inspiring about a street side tight rope walker's effort to get from one end of the rope to the other, without loosing balance. Quite often without protective gear or net to shield the fall. Most often the performer crosses the length of the rope safely. Almost always, the performer is a child or young adult.

It is a busy life in today's world. A seeming purposefulness in every action we take. A reason to step out of home. A destination to get to. A life full of care, with no time to stand and stare. A very poor life indeed in Welsh poets W.H Davies's view – 'Leisure'. And this holds true today in small town and rural India too.

Passersby stop to watch, sometimes studying the troupe right from the time they realise that they start preparations for a street circus act. The curiosity and wonder pushing the primary purpose of their outing to the recesses of the mind. The young and old, men and women, the rich, the not-so-rich and the poor gather around, forming a loose circle around the 'stage'.

From the moment the performer gets on to the rope, the onlookers rather unconsciously move closer or away, in a oneness that can only arise from having the same thought. The tension mounts and the audiences' fear becomes palpable. They hold their breath or let out involuntary gasps at every slight swing of the rope, the tilt of the shoulders or the flaying arms of the performer, striving to retain balance while moving ahead along the rope. Unable to look away, and unwilling to walk away, the viewer is spell bound until he has seen the safe end to the risky show.

One would imagine that the 'virtual walk' that the audience lived through, would make them admire the skill of the performer. Recognise the economic and social conditions and circumstances that would have left the family with no choice but to endanger their bread winner in such a manner. Appreciate that the performance was not a display of ones' love for adventure or an act of daring taken up as a challenge, but a normal human being driven by poverty, doing whatever would earn him his next meagre meal.

Yet, as soon as the performance nears the end with the rope walker triumphantly jumping to the ground, the audiences' mind jolts back to the present, recalling the reason for their foray outdoors. The move away and disperse rather quickly, with furtive glances at their watches and murmurs about being late. A common occurrence – not all viewers contribute to the street circus family's daily income. If the performer or her family are bother by this callousness, they have learnt not to show it.

The other common occurrence are the brief discussions [or are they dissections?] after the show.

* It must come easy to them – their family would have been at it for generations.

* The poles / bamboos would have been firmly dug in to the ground and secured. The structure wouldn't be as shaky as it appears. It is just scary for the viewers.

* You think there were 3 heavy brass pots on her head? Doubtful. They must have been lightweight plastic ones glued together. And strapped to her chin. That's why they didn't fall.

And so on...

Rather unfair to take away the credit from the individual, isn't it? The ability and willingness to take the risk, the developing of skill to balance oneself on the rope and the unfaltering focus required to make it safely to the other end – all of these solely belong to the individual performer. Nothing else should matter. Ideally.

We, the city-bred, educated and supposedly polished members of society, have a lot to learn from these simple folk.

Identify a goal

1. Build required skills and gain expertise

2. Courage to take risks

3. Focus and determination

4. All of which the tight rope walker displayed. The same key pointers that are the contents of numerous management and self help books.

And then we have our quintessential 'time wasters' that keep us from realising our full potential – emails, Facebook, Twitter....I have decided not to elaborate on these for fear of creating yet another listicle. While I am not anti social media and the usefulness of the internet, I cannot help but draw a parallel to the successful circus performer. Would the tight rope walker have made it to the end, alive, if he had stopped to admire the birds' eye view he would have had during the course of the show? Perhaps appreciate the flowers high up on the trees? Maybe measure his altitude with reference to the nearest lamp post?

Simply put, success only requires clarity of mind and sincerity in purpose. Do you agree?

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Originally published in 2015