Life In A Circus: Meet Young Lady Who Lifted An Elephant On Her Chest

Before the internet and television sets, the circus was the major source of entertainment in the lives of the public. People used to rush to get tickets to watch circus shows with friends and families during weekends and festival seasons.

Interestingly, circus shows are known for their dangerous and breathtaking stunts. People look at the stunt masters with dropping jaws. One such eye-popping stunt is a young lady lifting an elephant.

Reba Rakshit, a beautiful, thin woman from Calcutta, was gaining popularity in the audience for lifting a motorcycle on her chest. She had mastered the art of controlling her breath to generate immense power to do the stunts.

Her guru, Ghosh, noticed her talent and strong physique and decided to train her to lift an elephant. Circuses get flop without new talents. Hence, Ghosh tended to brainstorm new ideas to bring new stunts and performances to the show.

But the idea sounded impossible. When Reba found out about it, she couldn't believe her ears.

Lifting a stagnant motorcycle is different from lifting a wild animal. A wild elephant, even when trained, answers only to the commands of its mahout. In addition to this obstacle, arranging an elephant for the stunt was a big task.

Ghosh proposed this idea to another circus company that was visiting Calcutta. He wrote to the owner of that company, "I have a highly skilled and beautiful young woman who is stronger than any you've ever seen. She has other-worldly yogic strength beyond that of even a man. I'd like to bring her to the circus in the morning."

The owner of that company asked Ghosh to bring Reba the next day. Ghosh told them that a baby elephant, one year old, from their team would be needed to perform the stunt.

The next day, Reba managed to lift a young elephant on her chest at the practice site of the other circus company.