Thiruvananthapuram, April 5 : A 64-year-old internationally acclaimed Kerala magician Samraj held a solo magic show in front of empty chairs at his home at Mavelikera, as Covid-19 pandemic has struck hard leaving 5,000 people who work as support staff in the entertainment sector like orchestra, magic, besides light and sound ,in dire straits. Samraj told IANS that he did a solo magic performance so that the authorities might open their eyes to the travails faced by those who work along with us. "In my troupe alone there are 30 staff and how long do you think I can support them. This pandemic has come at a time when I had about 16 programmes booked in the coming months, which are holiday times here. And now with this, I doubt if this year any of us will be able to hit the stages," said the winner of the prestigious "Merlin Award", popularly known as the "Oscar of Magic". The Kerala government has taken elaborate steps to even take care of stray dogs and monkeys which have a problem with food, as people are now under lockdown. "We are thankful to the government who have taken care of several sections, we really wish to express our wish that the government will look into the needs of the support staff. These people earn a living doing this job and the first thing which gets cancelled are magic shows, orchestra programmes, dramas and such programmes. We have already approached the government and expect good news to come," added Samraj, a engineer by profession who took to full time professional magic after quitting his job in the Middle East a few decades back. /IANS