BANGALORE, DECEMBER 17: Sunday the 13th is always special for us and this time too it did not let us down. Our last monthly meeting of the year was attended by Raja Moorthy, Sanjay Subramanyam, Karthik Rao, Shankar Junior, Anandan Kumaran, Clifford Parakh, Soumyabrata Banerjee, Shameer Salim, Subramanian Cholayil, Nakul Shenoy, Master Inesh Shenoy, and Master Ishaan Shenoy.
After a quick welcome to all the members and guests who had joined, an update to the ring activities were given by our Secretary Nakul Shenoy. With the official agenda completed, the group quickly moved to the tricks session, which is always the highlight of our gatherings.
Master Ishaan Shenoy then told us the story of four thieves (jacks) who went into hiding in different parts of the world (deck) only to be caught together by the most magical of detectives (Ace of Spades). Master Inesh Shenoy followed with two card effects. First he had Nakul freely select a card and return it wherever he wanted, and then take the deck and shuffle it. Inesh then went on to divine the card accurately, to the amazement of all the members. Inesh followed this effect with a four ace assembly, where the deck cut in four parts ended up with the aces on top of each pile.
Nakul Shenoy distributed a few cards in a five envelopes, and asked a volunteer to mix these up leading to a random total. He then demonstrated how these random choices made by the volunteer could be easily predicted. He later shared his thinking and the handling of this effect, his latest twist on an old classic.
Shameer Salim, logging in from the USA, showed us how he could charge his phone even with a broken cable. This had everybody scratching their heads and wondering if there was an app at play. But it was none, as was evident when Shameer kindly shared the workings of this effect — a latest of his tech innovations.
Clifford Parekh of Goa decided to test a volunteer’s intuitionally powers using a few zener cards. He laid out a few cards and asked the volunteer to freely decide whether certain unseen cards were going to match a card or not. At the end of it, it emerged that the volunteer was psychic as the cards he had said would match were found to be in perfect pairs, while those that he said that he did not, were found to be of different shapes. This wonderful effect kept the members thinking for a long time after.
Rajamoorthy who joined us from Trivandrum performed a fascinating version of the polygraph test with cards. He had a card freely selected by a volunteer, and then mixed back in. He then asked him a few questions where the volunteer was could lie or be truthful. Despite all that, Rajamoorthy amazed everybody by accurately divining the said card.
Shankar Junior performed one of his pocket (packet) tricks, where he demonstrated the coin through table effect with a few printed cards. It completely took everybody by surprise when at the end of the act, the said “table” was found to have a hole, through which the coins had ostensibly passed through!
Subramanian Cholayil was our last performer of the day, and introduced a curious tiny hourglass with a green liquid on one of the halves. Subramanian held the hourglass with his fingers and concentrated his psychic energies on it and we were all amazed to see the liquid inside rise up to the higher half of the hourglass. This effect was so wonderful that he was asked to perform it again, and again. He kindly obliged and only added to our amazement each time.
With this, the last meeting of the year, drew to a close. We ended the meeting, hoping for a better, pandemic-free 2021, and looking forward to meet in the new year. Our next monthly meeting will be on January 10th, 2021.
BANGALORE, NOVEMBER 10: Stuck in the lockdown, one of the things magicians in India have begin looking forward to is the second Sunday of the month. This is when The Bangalore Ring meets, and 8th of November was that. It also turned out to be one of our largest gatherings ever with 15 magicians in attendance.
The meeting began by welcoming our latest member Dibya Guha, and celebrating the Ring growing to 29 members, especially in the pandemic year! In a short period of time, the Bangalore Ring has managed to not just add membership, but also grow the overall membership in the country by bringing in more than 15 new members. That we should continue to grow the Ring and make this a wonderful community was the feeling shared by all.
The business part of the meeting quickly dealt with, the group moved on to the performances, with the iTwins — Inesh and Ishaan kicking off the trick session. Master Ishaan Shenoy performed an over the telephone effect, via zoom albeit with his back turned to the camera. He has Shankar Junior think of a card, take it out, and lose it in the deck by placing a secret number of cards on top. In a little while as Shankar called off each card, Ishaan told him the card he was thinking off.
Shankar Junior then took stage to perform a new card effect that he had created, an out of this world inspired effect with animal cards. Freely selected and grouped picture cards turned out to be neatly separated into herbivores and carnivores. This well-liked effect led to further discussion on similar effects, and Shankar Junior was kind enough to share his handling and touches on the same.
Soumyabrata Banerjee shared a story and performed an over the zoom effect with everybody using their hands, to metaphorically explain that making compromises is not just a way of life, but also the right choice. Master Inesh Shenoy showed off his prowess with a pack of cards, shuffling and cutting it repeatedly to make the four aces appear, until they suddenly vanished to reappear from his jacket pockets!
Nakul Shenoy asked Anand Omanakuttan who is in the Middle East to bring out his deck of cards and shuffle it. Then he asked him to look at a card and hide it back in the deck. Despite such impossible sounding odds, and separated by 1000s of kilometres, Nakul correctly divined the exact position of that selected card in the deck.
Shankar Junior came back with a wonderful prediction effect performed with a set of number cards and blew everybody’s mind. Leons George performed a mind-reading effect with imaginary coloured dice, and then made that exact dice appear in his hands! Magician Subash joined in to vanish and reappear a piece of silk — his first in an online meeting! He followed this with cutting a rope and restoring it.
Raja Moorthy joined in next and ran through a pseudo mind puzzle, which had all of us pondering over a solution till the point he sprang the punch-line on us to explain, “don’t overcomplicate things”. On popular demand, he performed his signature coin routine where he “charges” a coin and makes it visually flip on the back of his fist.
Dibya Guha followed with an entertaining rendition of an oil and water effect with four kings and four queens, where the cards kept separating despite being mixed very clearly and slowly. The trick session was brought to a fitting close by Subramanian Cholayil who performed a short version of the Indian Cups and Balls using only one cup and a ball.
The members and guest magicians who attended the meeting included Shankar Junior, Nakul Shenoy, Saurav Mohanty, Leons George, Anand Omanakuttan, Soumyabrata Banerjee, Rakesh Syam, Abhilash Purohit, Master Dhanush, Dibya Guha, Magician Subash, Subramanian Cholayil, Raja Moorthy, Master Ishaan Shenoy, and Master Inesh Shenoy. Our next monthly meeting will be on December 13th. See you then!
October 11th, Sunday, saw The Bangalore Ring host its monthly meeting via Zoom at 10:30am. There was no beer flowing, but the magic and camaraderie more than made up for it! The meeting began with the Ring President, Prahlad Acharya welcoming all the members and our special guests. Given that the pandemic is only appearing to get stronger and continuing to wreak havoc, a few minutes were spent enquiring to the well-being of all our members and their families.
Our Ring Secretary Nakul Shenoy had just received via post, his Order of Merlin certificate and lapel pin. He was requested to show off both these to the gathering, and all the members took turns in congratulating him. Leons George then congratulated the officers and members on the successful renaming of the IBM Ring 177 to “The Bangalore Ring”. Saying that this made him nostalgic about the Garden City, Leons added that this was indeed the best way to communicate what the Ring truly represents and stands for.
A joyful moment captured during the October Meeting of the Bangalore Ring.
This was followed by a slew of magical performances, beginning with the Shenoy “iTwins”. 11-year-old, Master Ishaan Shenoy rolled things off with a story of Time Travel, where a card everybody had seen vanished from the deck, only to reappear “back in time” in its hitherto empty pack! His twin, Master Inesh Shenoy followed him with a “Lucky Person Test”, which began breaking the card pack into four parts at the exact spot that a volunteer told him through the screen. He then turned over each of the top card of the four piles to show that they were the four aces – and announced that the volunteer was indeed a very lucky person.
Shameer Salim, one of our members based in USA, then performed another of his mind-blowing effects. He put his phone up on a stand, to ensure it was fully in view but not being handled by him at any point. He then showed a series of handwritten cards with names of famous personalities. A volunteer chose one of these – openly & in what was clearly a free choice – only to have his mind (and ours) blown away, when the phone was immediately turned around to display the photograph of exact same celebrity!
It was now time for Ajit Badarinath (AJ) to do a mini-lecture about the creative process involved in the innovation and manufacture of magic props. AJ shared a real-life example of a product he was involved with, taking us through the year-long process that took an basic idea to fruition, and ably demonstrated each of the kinks and improvements made to the same… before it was released to be a bestselling product in the magic fraternity.
Leons George, our member based in Australia, then performed his version of the “Bowls and Balls”, where he made full use of his prowess in both the western and Indian versions of the oldest magic trick in the world. Nakul Shenoy took the screen next and performed his take on an old, well-known effect: five randomly thought of cards, match the exact ones that were picked by the spectator. Nakul kindly shared his touches to this classic, making it Zoom-friendly and of course, bringing in many possibilities to make it a perfect miracle.
Clifford Norman Parakh seen performing for Leons George.
All those wonderful performances, and we were not done yet! The best was kept for last. Our past member and special guest of the day, Clifford Parakh from Goa has been performing many many online gigs, and he shared some of his learnings with us. Most of all, Clifford performed one of his favourite effects–a randomly stopped, face-up card matches a prediction always in view– and even shared his handlings of the same.
In addition to those already named above, the meeting was attended by Dr BLN Raju, Saurav Mohanty, and Ring Treasurer, Karthik Rao. The members also expressed happiness that the Ring was continuing to grow at a steady rate, and we now have 23 members! After a quick discussion, it was unanimously decided to advance the Monthly Meeting time by 30 minutes and changed to 10:00AM. This would help our international members logging in from Australia, USA, and the Middle East.
The October meeting of Ring 177 was grudgingly called to a close and we now look forward to the next monthly meeting to be held on November 8th at 10AM IST. See you there!
On 27th September, we celebrated the 56th Anniversary of the IBM Ring 177 in style. The original charter event of Ring 177 was held at Bangalore on 27th September 1964 by Prof. S K Vasantha Kumar and friends, in the august company of Benjamin Kleinman.
This event was designed as a meet and greet, with no specific agendas, no meetings, and no interviews. We had about a dozen members (both past and present) joining us to commemorate our Ring anniversary in a most magical way.
A screen grab of the Online Event held to Commemorate the Ring Anniversary
The magicians that attended this wonderful event included, Leons George, Saurav Mohanty, Dr BLN Raju, Nakul Shenoy, Magic Balu, Amazing David, Soumyabrata Banerjee, Sridhar Parthasarathy, and Karun Krishna.
What followed was 90 minutes of unchartered fun, and featured loads of magical performances, trick exchanges, and performance ideas. The camaraderie was contagious, and this is what makes our Ring so great at heart.
We are now looking forward to our monthly meeting on October 11th at 10:30AM. We look forward to seeing you there!
This September, Ring 177 commemorates the 56th anniversary of the founding of the Bangalore Ring in 1964 by Prof S K Vasantha Kumar and friends. To celebrate this, on 13th September, we hosted a one-day Magic Fiesta online event which attracted 45 registrants from all across India and other parts of the world. We are most thankful to the technology powered by Zoom that enabled us to dream and host such a unique event, online!
From 9:30AM to 6:30PM, a bunch of magicians were glued to their screens and participating in lecture demos, performances, interactions, and of course, teach-in sessions. We also received good wishes from magician friends at Ring 2100, and of course the TVP India, Solyl Kundu. During the long day of proceedings, we also had a quick members-only business session, unanimously adopting some amendments to the Ring By-Laws. The most important of these was that the IBM Ring 177 would henceforth be known as “The Bangalore Ring” to best-represent its modern, global nature.
The day began with a brief welcome and agenda-setting session by our Secretary, Nakul Shenoy. He explained the reasons we were hosting this event online, and also briefed us about the rich 56 year history of our Ring — the third oldest (and the oldest active) Ring in India. Then Shameer Salim, one of our newest members, joined in from North Carolina and over the next hour gave us a detailed demonstration of some of the most awesome magic apps that he has created, including H**ra – an app that will release later this year.
Just after we had seen the magical possibilities the latest technologies could provide us, we had our minds blown by a series of performances by our members and special guests. The first trick session began with Anandan Kumaran from Chennai showing the mystery of the jumping toothpicks. Then it was the turn of the “iTwins” to take centerstage. Armed with just a set of gaming cards, 11-year-old Ishaan Shenoy transported us to the land and times of Sherlock Holmes, while his twin Inesh Shenoy followed him with a classic rendition of the cups and balls. That their first real performance was for magician friends from around the world was not lost on the iTwins, especially since the one and only Shankar Junior was among their audience!
Amazing David from Kolkata took to the screen next, sharing the wonderful work he has put in creating a home-studio for his online performances. David has recently got a lot of good ink among the most important newspapers in the country, and he held nothing back and shared every single tool and arrangement and nuance he has undertaken to create a simple but highly effective online performing arena — inside his house! It was clear to everybody present that David bared his heart and soul to us, and shared every single detail and the lecture was by far the highlight of the day!
First Row – L to R: Amazing David, Nakul Shenoy, Rakesh Syam; Second Row – L to R: Master Ishaan Shenoy, Shameer Salim, Master Inesh Shenoy; Third Row – L to R: Raja Moorthy R, Anandan Kumaran, Shankar Junior.
David’s practical “lessons learnt” session was followed by Anandan Kumaran, a former Microsoft, tech geek, who spent the next hour showing us advanced features and functions in Zoom and OBS and how they could be used for online magic shows. While most of the features were advanced and looked difficult, Kumaran tried his best to dumb it down and demystify them, so that we could use it to our advantage. Best of all, his session ended with an open offer from him to help the other members with their technical set-ups at any point that they needed. More than anything, this kind offer was welcomed with enthusiasm by all the attendees.
A quick lunch break followed, during which time, a few recorded teach-in videos were played, as kindly received from Kakinada Sreenivas – a prolific creator and innovator of magic tricks.
The group reconvened at 2PM with Rakesh Syam taking the screen, to perform a most impossible effect. He had Shankar junior (who had logged in from Udupi) shuffle his deck of cards, think of a card, and then return the card to the pack, and mix it up in a haphazard way. Shankar was asked to spread the cards on the table in front of him. All this while Rakesh was not just at his house in Bangalore, but also looking away from the screen. Rakesh then turned to look at the cards and miraculously divulged the card Shankar was thinking about! This brought a lot of OOHS and AAHS from the audience who were shocked beyond comprehension. If that was not enough, Rakesh then spent the next 30 minutes explaining ever nuance and handling of this most impossible effect to all of us. Wow! This is an effect we will be looking for an opportunity to perform — for it is a miracle in any scenario.
Now it was the turn of The Mind Reader, Nakul Shenoy to demonstrate and teach some advanced handlings of the PAT**, and the most effective way of using that in conjunction with the Magician’s Choice principle. First up, Nakul performed a prediction with all the people logged in to the meeting via Zoom. After a series of free selections and clear eliminations, only one person was left selected on the screen — and that mysteriously matched the prediction card that hung behind Nakul all the time! Then he followed this up with an effect with 10 miniature collectibles, where the one car that was finally selected by the audience, turned out to have a pair that was found hidden in a small box! All these effects were explained in detail by Nakul and the advanced handlings demonstrated in full. This is again an effect that the members felt could be performed anywhere, especially online — given the current scenario.
It was now time for the second trick session of the day. Our newest member Soumyabrata Banerjee performed his take on the travelling holes with a playing card. His presentation of “Atmanirbhar” (self-reliance) was both entertaining and topical. Abhilash Purohit performed an interesting effect with envelopes, where the envelope chosen by the spectator turned out to have a letter addressed to him, while the rest of the envelopes were found to be empty.
Shankar Junior followed this with his take on the mis-made card prediction. This was a beautiful effect where many pieces of post cards were mixed together and only four of these chosen at the end to make a card. This turned out to be not as perfect as one of the four pieces was from another postcard. All hell broke loose when the prediction was opened, for it was a mis-made postcard that matched the result perfectly!
This was followed by Balu The Magician who performed his variation of the coin matrix with four different coloured chips. And just when we thought the trick session was over, Inesh of the iTwins returned to perform his take on the classic card effect, “Out of Sight, Out of Mind”. These 11-year-olds reminded us that magic may indeed be in good hands with our future generations, especially if they stick to the classics and bolster that with their storytelling.
Shankar Junior took the screen for his magic teach-in. Despite the expectations being very high, Shankar delivered and with much ease. The effects he performed and taught were both effective and mind-blowing. Best of all, given the current circumstances where most of us are locked in in our homes, these effects could be performed easily via the internet and that was appreciated hugely.
The last session of the day was Raja Moorthy from Trivandrum, who conducted a magic teach-in with his usual aplomb. The effects he performed and taught were direct, shell-shocking, and once learnt — easy to do after due attention to the concepts taught. This was a session worth waiting for, and the perfect was to end a day-long online conference of magic, a first time for most of us.
Before we called it a day, we had an open discussion on a variety of topics, from how to improve the Rings’ outreach and activities, to improving the membership further. With nearly 10 new members added in the last couple of months, Ring 177 is excited to be one of the fast growing rings. Some of the other members and magicians who joined the session through the day, included Anand Omanakuttan, Clifford N Parekh, Dr BLN Raju, Karthik Rao, Leons George, Nanda Kumar Kalathil, Shridhar Parthasarathy, Subramanian, and Venu Vinjamoori.
What was most amazing is we all went through nearly nine-hours of online interactions, and with sufficient time for performances and interactions, this really felt like we were in a real convention! Given the circumstances, this was the closest we could come to being in a room together – and this was highly appreciated by all the attendees.
We already look forward to our next meeting, and more fun, interactions, and of course, MAGIC with our members. Stay well, stay safe.
PS: As always, all members of Ring 177 can access the recordings of all these performances and lecture demonstrations in the Members Area. Enjoy!
BANGALORE, AUGUST 31: We are less than a dozen days away from the All-India Magic Fiesta to be hosted by IBM Ring 177 on September 13th. Perfect time as any to announce the line-up of speakers and performers for this unique one-day online magic meet-up.
Joining online on September 13th are a fantastic set of magicians from across India, making this first of its kind event all the more magical. The partial list of performers and speakers appearing at this Fiesta includes, Amazing David from Kolkata, Kumaran Anandan from Chennai, Nakul Shenoy from Bangalore, Prahlad Acharya from Bangalore, Raja Moorthy from Trivandrum, Rakesh Syam from Bangalore, Shankar Junior from Udupi, and Unusualist AJ from Bangalore.
List of featured speakers & performers at IBM Magic Fiesta, September 13
In addition to these, there will be more speakers and presenters, that are expected to be announced in the days leading up to this online get-together of magicians. This one-day online IBM Magic Fiesta will be open to current and past members of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, and also those interested in joining the IBM, and special guests.
We are excited at the way the preparations for our One-Day Magic Fiesta is progressing. Sunday, the September 13th will see a full-day event filled with MAGIC – lectures, demonstrations, performances, and even competitions. Best of all, this magic fiesta is being conducted ONLINE.
IBM Ring 177 was originally came into existence on September 27, 1964 in Bangalore. And this one-day online Magic Fiesta is being organised to celebrate the 56th anniversary of India’s oldest active ring of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, USA. And the way things are progressing, we are only getting more excited by each passing day!
During the full-day event, we are proud to be hosting a special workshop by the wonderful Magician Raja Moorthy (from Trivandrum), and an expert technical session on using Zoom and conducting online sessions by TinyMagic founder & amateur magician Kumaran Anandan (from Chennai). In addition to these, we have many more sessions scheduled, which we will be announcing as the days progress!
For the first time, the Magic Fiesta event is being offered FREE to all our members. We will also let in a few of our past members, special invitees and guests. Since we want to keep this an exclusive event, we will have limited seats for this special online event.
So if you are interested in attending the IBM Magic Fiesta, best to reserve your seats right now than be disappointed later: https://forms.gle/9vKM1HrE1GCMDDQw7
We hope to see you at the one-day Magic Fiesta on September 13th. More details will be sent only to those registered for the conference. SIGN UP NOW!
THE LINKING RING is the monthly journal of magic published by the International Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM), USA. Each issue contains over 160 pages of fascinating performer profiles, historical features, and magic for all skill levels, from beginner to advanced performer.
The Linking Ring monthly magic magazine (image courtesy: magician.org)
The famous “Hocus Pocus Parade” features in-depth explanations with wonderful artwork by Tony Dunn, one of the best illustrators in magic. Plus, read the reviews of the latest releases of magic books, tricks, and videos. To top it off, each issue includes information on the monthly meetings of I.B.M. Rings around the world. This helps you find out which group is right for you, and get involved to enjoy the magic!
The Linking Ring magazine is available only to the members of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. Join the I.B.M. today to receive a beautifully printed and perfect-bound copy of our journal each month, plus instant access to the same via the Linking Ring mobile app. The Linking Ring magazine can also be accessed through the I.B.M. website, along with over 100 back issues, containing over 17,000 pages of the best information in magic! For more details to joining the I.B.M., visit magician.org.
Missing your Linking Ring Magazine?
If you are an I.B.M. member in the United States and have not received your issue by the 21st of the month, please contact the office for a replacement. If you are a member outside of the U.S. and have not received your issue by the 30th of the month, please contact the office for a replacement.
To receive a replacement copy of The Linking Ring, please contact the Headquarters Office by the required time. It is the responsibility of members to notify the Headquarters Office within 90 days of a missed issue in order to receive a replacement. If we do not receive your notification within the 90 days we will be unable to resend the missing issue/issues. To help keep the cost of membership fees down it is necessary to place a time limit on the resending of missed issues.
Thank you for your help in controlling the cost of membership fees. The contact information for the Headquarters Office can be found on page four of each issue of The Linking Ring or on magician.org.
MOVING HOMES?
Please notify the I.B.M. Headquarters Office at least four to six weeks before you move. By notifying the office ahead of time you will receive The Linking Ring at your new address and avoid paying a five-dollar per issue charge to resend the missed issue to your new address.
Please see page four of every issue of The Linking Ring for the contact information for the Headquarters Office or visit magician.org.
PS: This article has been compiled from content available on magician.org for the benefit of local ring members and those interested in joining the I.B.M.
BANGALORE, AUGUST 22: Ring 177 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians (USA) announced plans to host an All-India IBM MAGIC FIESTA on September 13th, 2020. This event coincides with the 56th anniversary of the Bangalore Ring, which was founded in September of 1964 by a group of enthusiastic magicians led by late Prof. S.K. Vasantha Kumar.
Keeping the COVID situation in mind, this year’s IBM Magic Fiesta will be hosted online via ZOOM and will be a full-day event, filled with performances, lectures, demonstrations, and members-only interactions. While the IBM Magic Fiesta is open to all current Indian members of the International Brotherhood of Magicians (USA), since this is an online event there may be a few surprise attendees from other parts of the world too.
The President of Ring 177, international shadow-caster Prahlad Acharya said, “we have finalised a few of our featured speakers and performers, and the line-up is already looking fantastic”. The most recent meeting of the Bangalore Ring was also held online and had 20 magicians from four countries taking part. “So the expectations are much higher with a full-day event,” he added.
Nakul Shenoy, the Secretary of Ring 177, has been busy coordinating with the various speakers and planning the sessions. “We are planning to host a unique mix of live and recorded sessions to maximise the possibility of people from different time-zones getting to be a part of this event,” said Nakul.
All in all, the excitement for the first online Magic Fiesta is high among the members of the International Brotherhood of Magicians in India, and they also expect a lot of magician guests to join in for this event. “There is always the hope that such events see an influx of new members and renewals of the membership by past members,” added Karthik Rao, the treasurer of the Ring.
We will let you know more about this event as we hear it. In the meantime, if you are interested in attending this Online IBM Magic Fiesta with Ring 177, get in touch and reserve your seats.
Joint Online Meeting of Rings 177 & 261 members a run-away hit with 20 magicians attending from across India and four countries!
On Sunday, August 9th, IBM Karnataka Ring 177 joined forces with its sister ring, IBM Dayanand Ring 261 to host India’s first online meeting of IBM members. Indian members of the IBM from across India and four countries, joined this unique 150 minutes virtual meeting.
The session began with Nakul Shenoy, the Ring Contact and current Secretary of Ring 177 welcoming all the members and invited magician guests to the meeting. He also welcomed our four new members to Ring 177 and welcomed them to their first meeting. Some young magicians who were interested in joining the IBM were also in attendance to understand firsthand, the activities and advantages of being part of this august organisation.
A screen-grab of the first virtual meeting hosted by IBM Karnataka Ring 177
After presenting the plan to hold many more such online sessions for IBM members from across India, Nakul introduced Sreekanth S as the new Ring Contact for Ring 261. Sreekanth thanked all the members for the responsibility and assured them that he would serve the Ring to the best of his abilities. Sreekanth and Nakul both reiterated that the two rings would work hand-in-hand to improve the IBM’s local activities in India.
To this effect, Nakul introduced a shining, new website for Ring 177 at ibmring177.com and drew the attention of all attendees to the rich 55 year history of the Ring. The members also congratulated the latest Order of Merlin inductees Nandakumar Kalathil and Nakul Shenoy, and the Order of Merlin Shield inductee Solyl Kumar, our beloved TVP.
This was followed by a touching and poignant memorial service to Master Chintan, the recently departed son of Prof. Madhav, a long-time member of IBM Ring 261. Master Chintan was a child prodigy who had won all that was to be won on the Indian magic stage and was a shining star in the world of magic by 2000s. But a mysterious illness took hold of him and kept him in the confines of his house and away from the thing that he loved most — Magic. After struggling with the illness for nearly two decades, Chintan breathed his last on 8th August.
A file photo of Master Chintan showing off his magic skills. Pic courtesy: Chethan S.
Our special guests and past members Kuddroli Ganesh and Shankar Junior led the memorial service for Master Chintan. Ganesh (who was Chintan’s mentor) shared intimate stories of Chintan’s journey in magic and achievements, while Shankar played a small clip of Chintan’s performance in the 1997 Udupi Convention, where the then 15-year-old had won the first prize. At the end of the video, all the attendees took to their feet and gave Master Chintan a fitting farewell via a standing ovation.
This heart-wrenching memorial was followed by various magic performances, including David Nobo from Kolkata, Shameer Salim from USA, Shankar Junior from Udupi, Nakul Shenoy from Bangalore, and Kuddroli Ganesh from Mangalore.
These mind-blowing acts were followed by two mini-lectures: “managing your finances during the pandemic” by Karthik Rao, our Ring Treasurer, and “Pivoting Your Skills To Increase Your Income” by Saurav Mohanty, who is an executive coach and one of our newest members.
Kumaran Anandan and Abhilash Purohit who are two more of our latest members also weighed in on these topics based on their corporate background and experience, and brought it all to a perfect closure. Other Ring Members that attended this online meeting included Leons George, Super Selvam, Tony Manjooran, and Venu Vinjamoori.
We are thankful to our TVP India, Solyl Kundu for making a brief appearance at our online meeting, despite his ill-health. With 20 attendees from across India, USA, Middle East, and Australia, this was our largest monthly meeting yet. We thank all our members and our guests for making this such a memorable event, and already look forward to the next event!
The Bangalore Ring 