Aas Mohammad Khan (50) looks exactly like a magician, his fingers adorned with exotic rings, sporting a pointed beard and with henna-coloured hair. The illusionist, who claims to be the real deal as opposed to stage magicians, talks about his art while in Mumbai to perform at the Kala Ghoda festival.

“The magic performed nowadays by other magicians is just a stage show, where the magician uses props like dim lighting and curtains and smoke-generating devices to perform his tricks. I can perform magic anywhere, right from stages to open air auditoriums or even on the streets,” he says, before gulping a small metal ball and then proceeding to take out three larger metal balls, each the size of his fist, from his mouth to the delight of small crowd that has gathered.

Though the Ghaziabad resident Khan is one of the few street magicians who continue to practise their dying art form in India, he is very humble about his achievements. “There is no real magic as people think it is. It’s all a game of sleight of hand and requires months and months of practice. Had there been real magic, I would not have been performing on the streets for my livelihood,” says Khan wryly.

Khan and his cousin, a wiry man named Babban, are also accompanied by 12-year-old Naseer who they claim is a magician in the making. Talking about his roots, Khan says, “The profession of magic has been a hereditary one for my family. Our past seven generations have been in this profession and my great-great-grandfather used to perform magic tricks for the old Maharajas of India. We learnt our trade from our parents and the tricks and their knowledge has been passed down the generation. Even I had started learning magic when I used to accompany my father on his trips to various parts of the country when I was of the age of Naseer. Now, Naseer is accompanying me on such trips and he will also learn the art of magic from me.”

However, even while Khan says he will make Naseer an excellent street magician, he cannot help but feel sad about the way the boy’s life is shaping up. “This is no life for him. I wish him to be in a school where he can get an education and make something of himself. Magic is a dying art. Nowadays, its all about performing magic from props and devices which anyone can buy in special shops and use them to perform mind boggling tricks. My magic is something for which I need no such devices. It’s all about the art of sleight of hand,” he says even as he hands this reporter an empty cloth bag and seconds later, produces an egg from it.