India’s Forgotten Circus Legend: The Life & Work Of Damoo Dhotre

Note: In 2018, the Ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Change banned the use of animals in circuses. Animals are not meant for entertainment purposes, and their use in circuses (which usually puts them through pain, agony, and illnesses) is a cruel motive to give humans what they can only consider a show.

The following story is of a personality from a time when this was legal and also accepted widely, but years of awareness and movements have (thankfully) led us to a more animal-loving time.

Years ago, when circuses were the biggest event in town, hundreds would flock to what we can now only picture as a large red tent, with various contraptions set up in spots, and artists and animals scurrying to their positions. The grandeur around them was widespread and the entertainment factor was through the roof –– no part of animals performing tricks or humans jumping through hoops of fire was unamusing to society at large at the time.

Damoo Dhotre was an animal trainer in a pre-independent India, who went on to become one of the world’s greatest in the world of circuses. At the mere age of 10, Damoo would visit his uncle’s circus regularly. His love for wild animals and all they could do stemmed from there. He would spend time watching them in cages and also attempt to re-enact their moves.

“One day the cage was open and he entered it and managed to keep the animals calm. It was only for a few minutes but everybody in the circus realised that he was special.”

— Mahendra Dhotre, grandson of Damoo Dhotre (via BBC)

His uncle agreed to take him travelling with the circus for four years following 1912, which is when he dropped out of school and left the idea of an education behind. The nostalgia for home and the will to contribute financially to his family combined, and he returned to his hometown, Pune, where he began performing bicycle stunts. If he got the time, he would find work as an animal trainer in the city.

He earned his big break at the young age of 22 when he applied to be a motorcycle stunt artist for a Russian circus and was then able to travel to China with them. Now, he had become the ringmaster. A characteristic that set him apart was his cultural attire –– a bare chest accompanied by a pagdi. This was highly unusual for ringmasters as they would usually dress in protective gear. Damoo’s outfit also gave away his confidence in his work, which served to be all the more impressive. His presence was magical –– barely anyone could hold such a command over the animals, almost as of he had them in a trustworthy trance.

In 1939, Damoo moved on to a French circus. Here, he earned his fair share and also managed to send some money back home to his wife and three sons in India. Come the Second World War, this newfound success began to decline as circuses were banned due to security risks. To evade this grim situation, the French circus travelled to the USA, where Damoo shifted to the Ringling Brothers circus, the biggest at the time. Here, too, he managed to impress a new international audience with his skills and fearlessness, but tragedy struck again as this circus had to shut down due to the war. He was made to join the US Army during the war in 1941 but rejoined Ringling in 1945. In 1949, he decided to head back to India because of his poor health. By the time he could make it back home, his wife had passed away due to cancer.

His decision to take a break from the circus and ringmaster life was met with a willful compromise of training potential ring masters and animal trainers. In 1971, Damoo was graced with an induction into the International Circus Hall of Fame. He passed away in 1973.

Damoo’s legacy is not well-known in India but his talents and hard work allowed him to put an Indian name on the global map in the circus world. His way with animals was perhaps never recreated and his scale of success is unmatched. At a time when animal cruelty was not looked at as ‘cruelty’, Damoo Dhotre performed his heart out with animals he considered no less than family.

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