Walk into the Bhumgara house at the quiet and secluded Godrej Baug in Napeansea Road, and you can literally feel the magic in the air
Walk into the Bhumgara house at the quiet and secluded Godrej Baug in Napeansea Road, and you can literally feel the magic in the air.
It emanates from Mhelly Bhumgara, 45, who beams with pride as he stands next to a recently-won trophy. But this isn't his award; it was won by his 14 year-old daughter Zenia. It's the first prize in the junior category at the national magic convention held in Mumbai on June 5. 
Zenia Bhumgara
Magic, did you say? Yes, this precocious, tech-savvy, Facebook-ing student of Villa Theresa High School is a junior magician, "completely looking to follow dad".
Mhelly and Zenia belong to a family whose entire business is quite simply, magical. Mhelly's elder daughter Pearl, 22, won the first prize in the first women's magic convention held in 2010 in Thiruvananthapuram and is the only Indian to win the American national championship. "Zenia developed an interest in magic when she saw Pearl perform. She started assisting her at the age of 4. She gave her first performance when she was 5," says a doting Bhumgara. 
And her next performance, "Is for the Merlin Award ceremony in Delhi on June 23". The ceremony will include guests such as International Magic Society (based in New York)u00a0 President Toni Hassini, Civil Aviation Minister Vyalar Ravi and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit.
Mhelly fell in love with magic when he was a student in St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, after watching David Copperfield on TV. But a degree in Marketing Managementu00a0 and Chartered Accountancy thrust him into the corporate world. Ten years ago, though, he decided to give up his job and pursue his passion full time.
"I learnt from multiple sources: foreign conventions, workshops, classes, fellow magicians, the Internet, tutorial CDs and so on." You cannot learn magic from just one source, he says.
Did he expect his kids to follow in his footsteps? "Not really," he says, recalling, "I would perform for the kids at Pearl's birthday parties ufffd that's how she got interested, but when she asked to be taught, I thought her fingers were too small. So she turned to her mother, who taught her her first trick," he laughs.u00a0
Zenia's magic fingers, though, came as a total surprise to the whole family. "Zenia was extremely shy," says Mhelly, adding that magic has taken her out of her shell. Zenia laughs and adds, "The first time I went on stage, my parents were scared out of their wits about how I would manage in front of an audience."
Magic has clearly helped the Bhumgaras to bond. Even though Mhelly's wife Kaizad works behind the scenes, and Pearl, a science student, isn't actively pursuing magic anymore, Zenia and Mhelly often work, practise and travel together.
"Our life is focussed on magic and we are always practising. But practise is not always fun. We have fights, there's lots of screaming and shouting," admits Mhelly. "We work with small threads and things can get lost, mixed up. It's not fun," laughs Zenia, explaining why mom isn't always allowed to come into the practice area.
The bond between father and daughter is strong. "We spend a lot of time together, our entire dialogue is magic-based," says Mhelly. While Zenia basks in the glory of being that rare person whose dad is a magician, Mhelly's chest swells with pride when he is recognised as "Zenia's dad" wherever he goes.
Yet, he knows that his daughter has sacrificed a lot in her pursuit of the art. "She misses playtime with friends and now will miss school for 2-3 days. But the rewards are really good in terms of friendship, popularity and meeting people," he feels.
Zenia, who is called 'magic didi' by fascinated youngsters at school, chips in. "Mom thinks my time management is good. I do shows on weekends when I get time off from studies. I avoid shows during exams unless they're very important."
In the future, she might pursue magic as a full-time career, or juggle with event management, the way her dad does with his company, Amazers.
"I keep telling dad to make a big name for the company so that I take over and be really big," she adds.
Judging by the smile her father gives her, he has no worries about his legacy being carried on.
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