Each night, she puts on her own make-up and chooses from a selection of her own clothes, stored in steel boxes along with the family’s only other possessions, precariously staked behind the make-shift stage out of sight from the crowd gathering. This is what she has done since she was young, when she watched her own parents perform and learned the secret art of deception. The Water of India – a vase that never empties no matter how much you pour out. The Sword Through the Throat trick. Cutting her assistants in half. As her 6 children play between the stage and the crowd and as her husband controls the mobs of men that pay 20 rupees per head, she doubles checks her eyeliner in the dusty mirror, takes a deep breath and walks on stage to enchant them all with a fake Chinese accent and hastily, though sincerely, performed tricks, the most impressive of which is the fine line she walks between being a strong empowered, self-employed women on a public stage and a show piece for men’s entertainment controlled by the watchful eye of her husband. Click to see more photos.