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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Thrills, roars and cheers under a giant marquee

Rambo Circus pitches a tent in MMR Mumbai : Mumbaikars are thronging to rediscover the joys of stunning, live entertainment as the familiar Rambo Circus has pitched a tent in Borivali West, before it shifts to Navi Mumbai from December 2.   This is billed as the first major full-scale season post-Covid-19 pandemic, which had led to a near washout of shows owing to social-distancing norms and public fears. The tent is now attracting a strong public response, said Rambo Circus Director and...

Thrills, roars and cheers under a giant marquee

Rambo Circus pitches a tent in MMR Mumbai : Mumbaikars are thronging to rediscover the joys of stunning, live entertainment as the familiar Rambo Circus has pitched a tent in Borivali West, before it shifts to Navi Mumbai from December 2.   This is billed as the first major full-scale season post-Covid-19 pandemic, which had led to a near washout of shows owing to social-distancing norms and public fears. The tent is now attracting a strong public response, said Rambo Circus Director and owner Sujit Dilip.   “We get good crowds on weekends and holidays, but weekdays are still a struggle. Our fixed expenses are around Rs. One Crore per month. Costs have gone up nearly ten times on all fronts in the last five years, and the 18% GST is killing. We manage around 1,500 shows annually, but barely break even, with wafer-thin margins,” said Dilip, 50.   The logistics alone are staggering. Rambo Circus travels across India with an 80-member troupe of acrobats, aerialists, sword balancers, jugglers, jokers, rigging crews, support staff, massive equipment, and a few mechanical animals.   “Many of my people have spent their entire lives under the tent. We live like a huge family. I try to support their children’s education, medical needs and help them build some financial stability. But without resources, it is becoming increasingly difficult,” said Dilip, his voice weary after decades of struggle for survival.   He reminisced of the golden era of Indian circus, around the second half of the last century, when there were many grand, full-scale circuses, but today barely half a dozen professional setups remain - Gemini, Golden, Ajanta, Asian, Great Bombay, and Rambo - along with a few smaller, local outfits.   “Unlike most countries where circuses come under the Cultural Ministry, India offers no institutional identity or support. I am invited as a jury member to several top annual international circus festivals. I feel sad as not a single Indian artist features on global stages. We just have no backing here,” Dilip told The Perfect Voice in a free-wheeling chat.   He said the decline accelerated after the ban on live animal performances nearly 20 years ago in India. In contrast, many foreign circuses still feature elephants, horses, bears, zebras, llamas, tigers, leopards, lions, and exotic birds - though most face heavy resistance from animal-rights groups.   “Moreover, ticket rates in India are among the lowest in the world, without tax concessions. In foreign circuses, even in smaller countries, tickets start at Rs 10,000 per head. We can’t dare match that…” he rued.   Yet, the thirst to lure audiences remains undiminished. Rambo Circus now leans on technology and innovation, featuring a mechanical elephant, a giraffe on stilts, stuffed zebras, deer, bears and horses, and has commissioned a Japanese company to design a robotic lion to perform tricks.   To make the shows more interactive, MoC – a tall senior joker – invites the young audience members into the ring to try small acts like skipping, jumping, or dancing with help from the midget clowns, and the kids’ shrieks of joy echo through the tent, as their parents furiously click videos and selfies.   Dilip recalled that during the pandemic lockdown, when survival seemed impossible, Rambo Circus pioneered online ticketed shows, selling nearly 50,000 virtual tickets - the highest among circuses worldwide at that time, and earned praise by international peers.   “We are swimming alone… For us, it’s not just entertainment. It is art, heritage, livelihood, identity, and passion - and we will fight for a dignified existence,” Dilip said quietly.   Rambo Circus’ emotional tug at PM’s heart Rambo Circus Director and owner Sujit Dilip appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help save this art form with a huge potential to generate jobs, discover talents, earn massive revenues and foreign exchange.   “We urge the PM and ICCR to give Indian circuses a formal status, affordable venues for our shows, extend bank loans, opportunities for skill-upgradation, foreign collaborations and inclusion under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ CSR list. Many corporates wish to help, but current rules prevent it,” Dilip told The Perfect Voice .   He recalled how, during Covid-19, Rambo Circus launched online shows and sold nearly 50,000 tickets, proving the potential of Indian circus talent and earning acclaim worldwide for his innovation. “Our dream is to make India’s circuses world-class, and we need government support to achieve this,” he said.   History of circuses – Roman Arenas to open maidans The name ‘circus’ had its origins in ancient Rome, where chariot races, gladiator clashes, displays/deadly fights between wild animals and condemned humans enraptured audiences in huge open arenas. Later, circuses began modestly in 1768 with horse tricks performed by Philip Astley, a London cavalryman. Then, came the modern version of live performances by horses/ponies in the US in 1793, and in the 1830s, wild animals were introduced.   Many Hollywood films featured circuses as the backdrop. The most memorable ones are: Charlie Chaplin’s “The Circus” (1928); Walt Disney’s “Dumbo’ (1941); Cecile B. DeMille’s 2 Oscar Award-winning “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952); biopic on P.T. Barnum “The Greatest Showman” (2017), et al.   Bollywood’s own legendary ringside acts were in films like Raj Kapoor’s “Mera Naam Joker” (1970); “Chandralekha” (1948); “Appu Raja” (1989); “Circus Queen” (1959); “Shikari” (1991); “Dhoom 3” (2013); and the howlarious circus climax in Firoz A. Nadiadwala’s “Phir Hera Pheri” (2006), etc.

An Endless War

Boko Haram’s enduring insurgency and the failure of Nigeria’s “resettlement peace” reveal a state caught between illusion and exhaustion.

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When the authorities in Nigeria’s Borno State recently began sending displaced families back to their villages, it was meant to signal ‘victory.’ Governor Babagana Zulum’s ‘stabilisation’ strategy promised to rebuild homes, restore livelihoods and reassert control over a region ravaged by jihadist terror. But the illusion of progress has proved short-lived. A surge of attacks in the past months on supposedly ‘safe’ settlements has laid bare the fragility of Nigeria’s security gains and the perils of declaring peace too early.


In September this year, jihadists from Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad - better known as Boko Haram - stormed the town of Darul Jamal on the Cameroon border, killing more than 60 civilians. The victims were internally displaced people (IDPs) who had been moved there as part of the government’s resettlement drive. The attack was a reminder that Boko Haram’s territorial decline has not meant its demise.


The Nigerian army’s ‘super-camp’ policy - fortifying troops in major garrisons while abandoning rural outposts - has ceded much of the countryside to jihadist control. For residents of Borno’s hinterland, life remains perilous. The military, stretched thin across multiple conflicts, is often unable to respond.


Borno’s return policy is part of a broader ‘Reconstruct, Rehabilitate and Resettle’ initiative that has seen more than 170,000 IDPs sent back to areas once overrun by insurgents. Camps around the state capital, Maiduguri, are being closed ahead of a 2026 deadline. The goal, officials insist, is to reduce dependency on aid and restore dignity to displaced families. But the returns are only nominally voluntary. Many IDPs have built livelihoods in the city; few wish to trade them for precarious safety and barren fields. To entice them, the state offers modest stipends and food and tools.


The optimism that once surrounded the ‘Borno Model’ has faded. Between 2021 and 2024, some 160,000 Boko Haram fighters and their families surrendered under a locally crafted amnesty. Yet, while surrenders mounted, so too did attacks. The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), the deadlier offshoot of Boko Haram, has evolved into a disciplined and tech-savvy force. Its fighters use drones, improvised explosive devices and coordinated night raids to overwhelm Nigerian bases.


Nigeria’s security crisis extends well beyond Borno. Across the Middle Belt, herder-farmer conflicts, fuelled by land pressure and climate change, have turned deadly. In the northwest, bandit militias carry out mass abductions and extortion with impunity. In the southeast, secessionist unrest has flared anew. According to Amnesty International, more than 10,000 civilians were killed across six northern states between mid-2023 and mid-2025.


The government of President Bola Tinubu faces a grim arithmetic of overstretch. The army is deployed in nearly every region; morale is poor; reinforcements and air support are often delayed. Corruption and logistics failures sap capacity. Abuja’s reliance on aerial bombardment and short-term offensives has produced sporadic tactical gains but no strategic coherence.


International attention, meanwhile, has returned in fits of misunderstanding. Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that Islamic terrorists were conducting a “Christian genocide” in Nigeria and called for military action. Western governments, fatigued by years of counterterrorism campaigns in the Sahel, are reluctant to invest in Nigeria’s recovery.


Boko Haram’s endurance owes much to Nigeria’s chronic governance failures. Poverty, unemployment and corruption provide steady recruits. Borders with Niger, Chad and Cameroon remain porous, allowing fighters to regroup and resupply. The withdrawal of Niger from the regional Multinational Joint Task Force earlier this year weakened cross-border coordination. ISWAP’s reach now extends around Lake Chad, threatening regional stability.


For Borno’s returning civilians, the human toll is stark. Fifteen years of war have hollowed out the countryside, destroying farms, schools and clinics. Insecurity has strangled the agricultural economy, driving up food prices and deepening hunger across the north. Young men who once picked up arms for jihad now find few alternatives; women widowed by war struggle to feed families.


Nigeria’s war with Boko Haram has entered its sixteenth year. The group may no longer hold swathes of territory, but its ideology and networks still endure.

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