There's something brewing in the Sorcar household. Maneka, magician P.C. Sorcar Jr's eldest daughter, is making coffee for her father who sits in their cluttered drawing room in south Calcutta. The flask, cup and saucer arrive. And Maneka starts pouring -- but into a cup that floats six inches above the saucer. And it isn't coffee. It's just magic.

For two generations, the Sorcars have been India's first family of magic. Now the robes and turban will pass on to a third. Maneka, 18, was introduced recently to the showbiz part of magic by her father. It was something of a trial by fire: nailed inside a box with dynamite sticks tied to her (the fuse lighted, of course), she escaped in nine seconds. "It's not a big deal," says Maneka. "Any magician can do it -- with varying speeds."

Sorcar is trying to get Maneka away from cheap stunts -- making coins disappear, performing for friends at parties. For her part, Maneka plans to include her younger sisters Moubani and Mumtaz. "We are planning a musical magic show when we start performing," says Maneka, who will have to continue to assist her father -- and learn -- till she picks up her B.Com degree. The aim is to put up a spectacle that qualifies as "complete entertainment". There will be skits peppered with magic, music and dance. There will be a tough act to follow.

In 1971, in the town of Shibetsu, Japan, P.C. Sorcar senior (Magic Dadu to Maneka) collapsed during a show and passed away. Sorcar junior took over to complete the show. "You can't cry with make up on, it streaks your face," he says. As Maneka will learn, that smile is the difference between the amateur and the professional, between illusion and reality.

-Avirook Sen