Perumal (or Piramal) was born in Madras, India in 1888 and entered showbusiness at a young age, appearing with the Indian dwarf Soopromanien Munsamy and two pinhead children, Gondio and Apexia. He toured the United States briefly with the Ringling Bros. circus and retired to India in 1915. According to Mannix, he was a finicky eater who employed his own Indian cooks and refused to eat anything cooked by Americans. Contrary to most of his promotional material, "Sami" was Perumal's family name, not the name of his parasitic twin. His cousin Kuppes Sami and brother Thumbu Sami assisted him in travelling and performing. However, in a similar marketing gimmick to Laloo and May-Joe, Perumal's parasitic twin was dressed and exhibited as a girl.