Muthukad enthrals PM

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Renowned magician Gopinath Muthukad enthralled the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with his ‘patriotic magic’ in New Delhi the other day.Muthukad had staged a special performance for the Prime Minister and other dignitaries in the ceremony organised to award him the International Merlin Award, billed as ‘Magic Oscar’. Muthukad had staged a special performance of a rope trick in which he hid the message of national integration, which is revealed at the end of the trick. He used three different ropes coloured saffron, white and green, the colours of national flag, and in a flash he converted it into a single unbroken piece. Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs and Civil Aviation Vayalar Ravi, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs K V Thomas, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and the Principal Secretary to Prime Minister T K A Nair, were present at the ceremony which was attended by hundreds of magicians from all over. The President of International Magicians Society (IMS), Tony Hassini presented the award instituted by the IMS, which has over 37,000 professional magicians as members. The award was given to Gopinath Muthukad for his outstanding contributions to the art.