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Greek's acrobatics in Varanasi
by Girish Kumar Dubey

     Varanasi: An acrobat from Greece is mesmerising the residents of Varanasi with his hair-raising feats. Christopher, who has been in the town and performing for the past three days, considers himself a messenger of peace and thinks humanity lies in making others laugh. "I want people to be happy. I would like to give a lot more to the people. I will like to feed everybody, to give one rupee to everybody, one scoop hand, whatever people need. But I know this is not possible. If I could give them a smile, it's something that holds value," said Christopher.

     Actually the word acrobatics comes from the Greek for high (akros) and walking (bat) and Christopher knows it all. He is a master of his art, which has drawn a number of tourists pouring in the town from within the country and outside. The onlookers gather around Christopher and admiringly watch his exciting feats on the streets and riverbanks. Many foreign tourists believe that a sense of humour is a good idea to keep tensions at bay and to remain happy. "A child needs to smile along with adults. This kind of show is perfect, as it gives you a chance to laugh with everybody. Irrespective of ethnicity, everyone understand the language of humour and love, it's the same language around the world," said Cukoo, a tourist from France. Acrobatics includes a variety of manoeuvres, involving balancing, jumping, and tumbling, often with such apparatus as tightropes, trapezes, unicycles, balls, barrels, and poles. The ancient Greeks first invented primitive acrobatics. It is one of the performing arts, which are also practiced as a sport.

     Many acrobats are also contortionists, which adds to their performance at times. For the locals, it was a rare treat as they enjoyed every moment of his joyride. "I felt really good after watching his performance. People also felt happy. Although he is a foreigner, but he is trying to make people happy here and people here have also started liking him in these three days," said Gopal, a resident. Christopher plans to move to eastern parts of the country after entertaining people in Varanasi. Fond of travelling, he has visited almost twenty countries, 13 of which he has been to more than once.
-Dec 28,  2006

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