The vanishing world of India's street magicians

For many artists, Covid made a bad situation worse.When India imposed its 2020 lockdown, public performances stopped. Many magicians returned to their villages; some never came back."We saw a decline in public performances after this period," Dhanda says. "The brunt was especially harsh for street magicians and performers, many of whom did not return to cities."For the artists who did return and continue the trade, the challenges only increased.Shahim Khan, 42, still performs magic on Delhi's streets, sometimes with his 12-year-old daughter, Alia.Much of his work is now confined to industrial areas, far from the busy public spaces where he once performed, hitting his earnings hard.Before the pandemic, he could stage four or five shows a day, earning 1,000-1,200 rupees."Now I barely manage two shows and earn 200-400 rupees," he says.The rise of short-form digital entertainment has added to the pressures on traditional performers, experts say. So have changing attitudes towards street arts."There was a lot of Western interest in things like the rope trick decades ago. But forms and tastes have changed, and so has what India chooses to showcase," Dhanda says.For Khan, the loss is abou...