Pakistani jugglers are famous all over the world. They provide a variety of interesting entertainments, and are hence very popular. Large crowds gather round them at a single blow on the damru, and the sweet sound of the flute on which they play while performing excites the curiosity of even the most listless. These men are mostly itinerant performers, and wander from place to place to make a living.
Their tricks are performed so very cleverly and with such rapidity of motion that the eye cannot follow them. The throwing up of several balls in quick succession, catching them as they fall, and throwing them up again, is a very interesting feat. It is wonderful to see how they will break one hall into two, three, four, half a dozen balls, and then how cleverly they will secrete them all. They will plant mango trees in no time, and produce a quantity of dry fruits from a bag which is empty to all intents and purposes. While they are doing all these things, they enliven the proceedings with their witty remarks, and create a diversion by making fool of some one among the spectators.
At the Wembley Exhibition recently held in London, the Pakistani jugglers gave a good exhibition of their skill. The basket trick, in which a grown-up man is concealed in the hasket, and then spears are thrust in from all sides to show that the man has disappeared, and then his voice is heard from a distant corner, is very interesting. The rope trick, in which a man climbs the rope, and then disappears in the air, has not yet been explained, and perhaps has not heen successful performed either. It was tried at the said exhibition, but was not a success.
The card tricks are very numerous, and are very dexterously done. It is really a treat to see these juggling performances, and in Pakistan they are so cheap. It is a pity that such things are not properly organized.