Mind Freak!

When a person is able to predict actions of others and has already decided the outcome of a process, what would you call him? A mind controller, a mind reader, or a Mind Freak?!

I met one such ‘mind reader’, Nakul Shenoy, who describes himself as a Psychic Entertainer. On a fascinating Sunday evening, Nakul showed off his talent of controlling thoughts of people and even making them choose options that he knew they would.

In one display of act, Nakul picked up five people randomly from the audience and asked them to choose one of the five books in hand. Then each was asked to randomly pick a page while Nakul flipped through the books. When each member had a specific page in hand, Nakul was able to 'guess' the first word of that page, or even read out a whole sentence off a specific line in the book, without seeing the book. (could he have memorised the books, nah)

He topped the act when he actually pulled out and read a sheet of paper from a participant’s pocket in which he had already written which book the participant was going to select, which page and which line he would be selecting!

That really blew everyone in the audience.

Nakul also tried a new act, with the help of a musician friend. This act was complex and yet very impressive. If you thought reading someone’s thought is difficult, then what would you say to an act where Nakul not only caught a tune running in someone’s head but also ‘transported’ that tune to his guitarist frined who then strummed the tune on his guitar! Yes, he picked up five different tunes from five participants among the audience who were asked to think of a song they chose from a list of cards.

Now could the cards have been rigged? It could be that there were 25 cards, with the same set of five songs. But how would Nakul know which song a specific participant had picked? And having caught the song, how was he able to transport the tune to his friend who stood at the other end of the stage with a guitar?

I have seen even more amazing acts on TV specifically Chris Angel, who is popularly known as Mind Freak. His acts are definitely more on-the-edge and more spectacular than Nakul’s but I have to had down the credit to Nakul who is just 29 years old. He began performing magic shows at the age of 15, and today he is a co-founder of MAADRI (Magic & Allied Arts Development & Research Institute), and a guest faculty at the Academy of Magical Sciences.

Oh, did I mention that I too was picked as one of the participants on the stage briefly, but then he already knew I wont be the winner in that act, as he had already predicted the winner's name on a paper even before the act had ended.

Nakul was funny, witty and focused, a skill that he is sharpening up by pursuing doctoral degree in Communication.

“I don’t do kids” he said disappointing many a kids in the audience who wanted to be picked by him as a stage participant. But then controlling a kid’s thought would be a cake walk.

I wonder if he knew I would be blogging about him?! Hmmm….