For many Rwandans the idea of magic and magic shows is almost a non practical. The Rwandan community doesn’t strongly believe in magic.
Nizam Ahmed Pasa stands to prove to the Rwandans that magic exists and is actually practical than they could ever think. The 44 year old, is one of the Indians who participated in the ongoing 15th Kigali trade fair that begun in July, 2012.
With a team of three fellow Indians, Nizam had the opportunity to showcase his skills to the top government officials at the opening ceremony that was presided over by the Prime Minister of Rwanda, Dr. Pierre Damien Habumuremyi, at the Gikondo show grounds.
It was not only amusement but an environment filled with surprises as Nizam, changed newspapers into Rwandan francs and turned the money back to its original state just by a twist of his fingers and folding the papers in between his visibly empty palms.
He went on to getting a glass of wine make it float in the air and pour some wine in it. “ Imagine how amazing it is to witness such a scene.”
Nizam entered the magic industry at the age of 17years back home in India, and has earned a living out of this career- which he also has taught his three children to follow his footsteps.
While in Rwanda, Nizam did not only entertain the officials but also had a stall- in which he displayed his skills. At a small fee of Rwf1000 (an equivalent of 66rupees), Nizam managed to host various sessions of his magical skills.
He didn’t stop at this, Rwandans interested in learning from him had to pay only Rwf5000 (approximately 333 Rupees) to get a package of the magic kit and a five minutes training to be like him.
“Am pleased with the response from people who are interested in learning the magic skill, so far I have trained over 30 Rwandans on how to perform magic so that they can make a living out of it.”
“The sales are big and each day we sell over 100kits, which is good for business and also one way of having the Rwandan people learn the magic” says his son Mohd Wasim, who is also in charge of training those interested in becoming magicians.
The training takes only five minutes and you can manage to perform every magic including: Making anything vanish, making objects float in the air while touching on nothing, changing things turn into different objects, making humans float in the air among others.
This year’s 15th edition of Rwanda International Trade fair has attracted participants from all over the region and beyond.
The numbers of local residents entering the expo was very big by the one, and it is expected that the numbers of shoppers will increase during the two weeks expo event currently taking place in Gikondo Grounds- which has over 400 stalls and business ranging from technology, service sector, agriculture, and entertainment, among many others.
They can’t show bigger magic because the space they booked is not big enough, for instance the vehicle can’t go all the way to his stand, and there is no space for that.
They come to know about Rwandan exposition, after checking on the internet, they thought it was a good idea and booked for their space online.
“Magic is good, you can only do it with good intention, especially to entertain people and most importantly to a living out of it. Rwandans should not fear magic but look at it as a profitable entertainment.”