Life is one big magic for Kruti Parekh

Mumbai, Feb 18 (UNI) ''Magic is my birthright as I am born out of the magic of science,'' says Kruti Parekh, the youngest magician in India who also holds the distinction of being the country's first test tube baby.

True to her claim, Kruti performs some stunning feats on stage such as eating fire and razor blades, drinking acid, walking on fire, bathing with burning coals, pulling an airplane with her teeth, levitate her friends, and sleep on a bed of sharp arrows while having cement blocks on her chest broken with a hammer.

''I got interested in magic at the age of five and have been performing since then,'' Kruti said while speaking to UNI recently.

Today at 22, Kruti is the youngest magician in India.

Having had just completed her graduation in engineering, Kruti, apart from doing magic, is currently preparing for the Indian Administrative Services examination.

Taking a cue from P C Sorkar (Senior) who performed a magic show in Yangon 35 years back, Kruti performed five magic shows in the cities of Yangon and Mandalay in December 2006. Her shows were organised by the Myanmar Cultural Department in collaboration with ICCR, New Delhi and Indian embassy, Yangon. Kruti, incidentally, is the only female magician to ever perform magic shows in the Golden Land of Myanmar.

This magician is also a keen environmentalist. Recognising the fact that children find lectures boring, Kruti teaches them about the environment through her magic. She has founded the Eco-Kids Club where children from Mumbai can learn about environmental causes such as composting and vermiculture. Through her club, Kruti has roped in over 100 schools to participate in her conservation and recycling efforts.

She is currently involved in a project at the Babulnath temple in Mumbai where every month worshippers at the Hindu temple bring more than a tonne of fresh flowers which wither away and are thrown into the sea. But Kruti worked with the temple to set up a composting system that turned flower waste into fertilizer. Now the temple uses dead flowers to grow new flowers showing the cycle of birth and death and rebirth that is part of the Hindu religion.

After she toured Africa, Kruti donated the money to ''Feed the Babies'' fund. She has performed more than 3000 shows and has entertained presidents, kings, queens, sheikhs and maharajah's.

UNI