Gopinath Muthukad warns of cyber perils with a bit of magic

KOCHI: Magic is a magnificent art form that catches the audience’s attention and keeps them on the edge of their seats. The students and staff of St Teresa’s College had a similar experience on Wednesday when popular magician Gopinath Muthukad grabbed the eyeballs of the crowd with his trademark tricks and jaw-dropping illusions.Organised under the initiative ‘Ellusion’, a magical awareness programme on cyber safety, the show put the spotlight on cyber crimes with the help of magic.

The first act by Muthukad was an experiment by using Acting Chief Justice Antony Dominic’s mobile phone. A picture of the audience was clicked with the phone. Later, the phone was shown to be damaged, only to prove that even if it gets destroyed, photos in it could be retrieved.“This act was to make the students realise that the data in a phone never gets lost and girls especially should be careful while sharing photos with others,” Muthukad said.Later, Muthukad engaged the audience with performances through an interactive session called Watch your WATCH. ‘WATCH’ is an abbreviation given by Muthukad, which means Words, Action, Thoughts, Character and Habit. 

Watching this ‘WATCH’ alone can help a parent or teacher to understand the child’s problem, Muthukad said, adding that it is essential to keep track of a student’s behaviour and conversation, and if some change is noticed by the parents or teachers, the issue has to be discussed.After the show, the students raised queries about safety in cyberspace. Muthukad said the police should be alerted when something unfortunate happens in cyberspace and he also warned that social media has to be used carefully.

Appreciating the show, assistant professor Leena Leon said magic is an entertainment and with its help, such social issues could be addressed to students. “First- and second-year students were included in the programme and it is expected to make an impact on them,” she said.