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8/13/12 e-Trav el Blackboard: Trav el News Your Way

www.etrav elblackboard.com/print/134471

Rakesh Syam, Table Magician � Carnival Breeze13/08/2012

The pioneer of close-up magic on CarnivalCruise Lines, Rakesh Syam, talks to e-Travel Blackboard about following yourdream and not taking �no� for an answer.

e-Travel Blackboard: How did you

become a magician?

Rakesh: In India there are a lot of snakecharmers...they do it on the street and thefirst inspiration was when I saw this snakecharmer.

It was at the age of eight and I saw themperforming. People were so amazed...allkinds of people came.

I thought...he makes money, you know heproduces money, he gets coins and



everything and then after that he begs forthe tips, so in my childhood, I don�tunderstand when he is able to producemoney why he is begging!

I understood that also education was veryimportant for everything that you do. In India,everybody holds a degree.

Then I started talking to other magiciansand I learned a little bit of tricks fromeverywhere, not one or two magicians butplenty of magicians.

I got into magic but I'm an engineer. I did mydiploma in engineering, I did it for one yearand I thought, this is not my cup of tea.

In those days, 1995, there was no internetand if you looked at my college lecturer, hewas working on a very low salary.

That�s the salary in India and that wouldbe good.

My lecturer in college, the money he wasgetting, I can earn that money in like two orthree shows.

I thought, ok why should I complete threemore years and then look for a job, when Ihave skills and everything?

I feel happy, I work less and also there isalways improvement in magic.

Some people think magic is just being onstage. I do product promotions in magic Ido product launches ok, I do school shows,I do creative classes as well, all that�smagic.

Then I quit my engineering...I got intomagic.

e-Travel Blackboard: So how does thatthen take you to Carnival? I�ve never

seen the close-up magic beingperformed in the dining room on other



ships, but it�s great! It adds an extra

dimension to the dining experience.

Rakesh : No-one has ever seen close upmagic performed on any of the cruise shipsin the world. As a matter of fact I was thepioneer, I was the one to introduce thisclose up magic concept in the dinningroom, it�s the first time in the world for acruise line.

I literally contacted them and they said, ohmy god that�s an interesting story.

Engineering was my arrangedmarriage...magic is my love marriage.

So in India still, as I told you, people theydon�t know what is magic. It�s like ataboo in India.

The only thing that is recognized isengineering or a doctor you know, so I was earning good money in India.

I was performing. I did shows, I did product promotions, I was pretty good at it. I washappy.

I wanted to get married, but what happens was my marriage got cancelled twice justbecause I'm a magician.

e-Travel Blackboard: Were these arranged marriages?

Rakesh: Yes it is traditional, done by the parents. The girl likes me, I like the girl, I likethe family, they all like me, so we fixed the marriage.

The first time after three months we fixed the date and everything was fine.

So they�re ok with me, they want to tell their relatives and friends, we found a guyhe�s a very nice guy, he�s working in a hotel, it was a big chain hotel, then theyasked what he does.

They said he�s a magician and they said, �Oh my God a magician? You�re giving agirl to a magician?�

In India the first question is what does he do? Then the education comes. It doesn�tmatter if the guy looks good, is he good at this, all this comes after what he does.

They thought that a magician means a snake charmer.

So they called me the first time and they said why I don�t change my profession. I said,



�I earn more than my classmates earn. I work less so that I can spend much more timewith your daughter and my family, so it�s a big advantage. What�s more than all this, Ifeel so happy.�

I know very few people who have that gift. I live for performing and everything, you know Iwant to be a magician from my childhood; I�m a magician now so you know, what isthe problem with society. So I said no. I live for me and for my family

e-Travel Blackboard: Was your family ok with it?

Rakesh: Yes of course.

e-Travel Blackboard: So they didn�t mind that the whole marriage thingwasn�t happening because of your profession? They didn�t tell you to

change?

Rakesh: No. The interesting thing is actually my Mum and Dad, they were trainers in thecircus.

So we were all circus!

So that�s why they wanted me to become an engineer. They wanted me to go toschool and everything.

But still I loved this option and they said, �It�s up to you, if you�re happy, if you thinkthat you can make a career.�

So Mum and Dad did not have any problem at all and along came another girl, thesame thing happened. Just because of the occupation they said, �no�.

So I decided to go abroad.

It is a great thing, it�s good for you, it brings a dignity and it�s a kind of a status thingnow.

I got a job in China and then I got one in Malaysia, then the same time I got a job in theU.S.

So it was a very interesting story how I got into Carnival.

I was going to look for a job so went up to the cook and he came from the telephonebooth and he said that there was a company hiring people. Carnival Cruise Lines. Isaid, �When are they holding the interviews?�

He told me the date and I thought, when the cook calls that means that it�s a restaurantand if there is a restaurant there may be an opportunity for me.

So I go to the interview and they told me that it was for a cruise line.

I didn�t know there was a concept called cruise lines until 2004. I had absolutely no



idea!

So I called the agent and said I was a magician. They said they don�t hire magiciansso I asked to speak to the person from Carnival. They said no and I said to give me twominutes to come in.

He said he�s not interested, then I spoke to him and he said, �We have nomagicians, it�s not my department I work in food and beverage�, he said, �I told youI have no time now,� and he hung up.

Then I tried three times and it�s not happening you know.

I had to find out where is he staying, I didn�t want to give up.

So I went to the phone directory, they all said he wasn�t staying there and then onesaid he was! They said they didn�t know what time he was coming back but at least Iknew he was staying in that hotel!

So what I did is I put all my photos, my profile, a TV interview, everything, I put in oneprofile. I made this and I went to the hotel and I was waiting.

So the person came and I wanted to speak to him. So he came to the hotel, he went tohis room, I called his room.

He said, �I told you that we don�t hire, I don�t have time, I'm leaving now.�

I asked him to see me, let him see my profile. He didn�t know what I did and that wasthe problem. I thought, my hope was gone, but I didn�t want to leave, so I tried one lasttime.

I went to the reception with my profile, I said the guy lost this book and asked me to giveit to him.

So then I got a call on the mobile, asking if I had two minutes time and I said I had allday.

He saw my profile and it looked different. He said to do something and I did...he was soimpressed!

We had a 40-minute talk, I performed and I explained everything...he said he wasimpressed, but it was a new concept.

He said, �I don�t know any other cruise line who has this concept, otherwise it wouldbe easy for me to understand.�

But he said he would talk to his company.

It took six months for me to free this concept. I was contacting him asking what washappening...they had nothing to lose.



I said, �Just give me a chance and let me come to you I could perform. I�m going topay for my flight and my visa to you, just hire me for a month and if you don�t like me,fire me, simple as that.�

In the first week I got a great response and...well I�m still here now!

e-Travel Blackboard: How long have you been with Carnival now?

Rakesh: Eight years now. I was a table magician on the Splendour and there was somuch interest that we hired more.

We placed advertisements all over the world in all the magic societies and everythingand now we have people working from Europe, from the UK and India.

e-Travel Blackboard: So does your work come under the food and beveragedepartment?

Rakesh: Yes and that�s because we work in food and beverage venues, we work inthe restaurants and the bars.

e-Travel Blackboard: That�s really interesting because I would have thought it

would come under entertainment. What are your hours like?

Rakesh: We work long times compared to other entertainers in the world.

One thing we have to remember is, working is different and performing is different.When you perform, you help your soul and energy, especially in magic, I have to watchother people I have to look at them, my hands are moving, I have to keep on talking.

All my senses are awake, I cannot think of something else. I give energy, people giveenergy, so I have to be energetic.

e-Travel Blackboard: So what happened to marriage? Are you married? Didyou end up finding someone who was happy with your occupation?

Rakesh: I found someone, then after that I came on the ship and then I got divorced andthat�s it!

e-Travel Blackboard: How long are your contracts?

Rakesh: 8 months.

e-Travel Blackboard: So will you then go to Sunshine next?

Rakesh: Yes, for a while I�m starting up all the new ships.

e-Travel Blackboard: Obviously you�re happy and you�re enjoying what

your doing, where do you see yourself moving either within the company or

elsewhere? What would be your ultimate goal now?



Rakesh: Ok thats a pretty good question, my profession, you don�t need any age topractice. Any age I can still perform, I can know what I�m doing.

I have the chance to perform in a restaurant doing close up magic and I love doingclose up magic but as well as I do stand up on the big stage.

e-Travel Blackboard: Do you want to move more into that?

Rakesh: Yes, yes, yes!

e-Travel Blackboard: That�s so different because you�re so much further

away from your audience!

Rakesh: Yes, I do mind reading shows, I do slight of hand and everything. I had that a lotin India, so here I had only close up magic but let�s see in the future if I end up on thestage.

But, if I found a family I would be on the land. I want a bit of everything. I want a family Iwant to spend time with them.

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