Sunday, October 12, 2008

Lessons from the circus tent



Circus is one of the greatest forms of service. It is the spirit of service and customer delight which every other organization must emulate. Sustained peak performance is best seen in a circus show. The peak performance is not a once-in-a-while happening, but repeated show after show, day after day, without rest.

Last month, Lily and I took our children, Ron and Ria, to see the Great Bombay Circus at Putharikkandom Grounds at Trivandrum. Great performance and teamwork! What endurance and spirit of service!

It had been raining since morning. And when it rains in Trivandrum, the place is quite a mess. Many of the tents where the circus staff were staying had been drenched in water. Rain water was dripping into the circus tent through gaps in the large sky-like circus tent. Some members of the circus crew were trying to pump out water from the wet areas. There was no sense of helplessness, but the spirit to get on with the performance. The show was not delayed. The matinee show started sharp at 4.00 P.M.

Everyone – the management, the performers, the animals – all of them took the reality of Kerala rains as a part of the game. They seem to have trained their minds to focus on the performance, rather than on the hardships. They travel from place to place. Every place gives them new challenges. ‘We are here to entertain and delight the viewers; not to complain about the rain, snow or heat,’ they seem to be saying. To serve without complaint, to serve as a team, to serve to delight by great performance of one’s duty is at the core of the spirit of circus.

Circus is the art where human beings and animals work together, every day without rest, to entertain children and adults of all ages. With so much to learn from the circus tent, and so much entertainment value, I hope this art form is sustained, supported and nurtured.


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