Pappu, hailing from Jhansi, had come along with his wife and six children, all under the age of ten. His six-year-old son first jumped through a burning ring and then a double ring, one comprising six knives and the other a burning one. He did it thrice before moving on to the gathered public to ask for money.

“Paise ke liye yeh sab karna parta ha (I have to do this for money),” said Pappu. When asked if he knows it was an offence to make children work, he said, “Yeh bachche kaam nahin karenge to khayenge kya (If these children won’t work, what will they eat?).”

Similar was the story of Ganesh from Bilaspur in Chattisgarh whose eight-year-old daughter walked on a rope tethered to two bamboo poles posted on either side. Welcoming the audience with the beating of drums and playing of a dholki, he egged on his daughter to walk on the rope, first barefoot and then with sleepers on.

He echoed Pappu when asked why he allows his daughter to perform such a dangerous act. The story almost repeated itself throughout the Rose Festival and five such groups, with small children performing dare devil acts to attract the public, were spotted.