// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
The vanishing world of India's street magicians
Ishamuddin Khan is one of India's most famous street magicians
Sitting in his cramped Delhi home, Ishamuddin Khan can still make a rope appear to rise into the air.
The 55-year-old magician spent decades performing a trick once dismissed as legend, and still keeps photographs and newspaper clippings from his years of international fame.
These days, he spends more time looking back at those memories than performing the trick.
"The times have changed," he says. "Street magic is dying a slow death. It is on a ventilator."
Khan's story reflects a wider change in India, where traditional street performers are finding it increasingly difficult to make a living from their craft.
Magicians, jugglers, puppeteers and acrobats once made a living from crowds in public spaces. Changing entertainment habits and tighter restrictions have made audiences harder to find, pushing many out of the profession.
Khan, one of India's best-known magicians, comes from the Madari community, which has a long tradition of performing in public spaces.
There are no official figures, but Khan says community records identify about 400 Madari families in Delhi, with hundreds more in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana.
Despite their small numbers today, the Madaris trace their roots back centuries.