For some it’s
an obsession, to see themselves in the record books. The backgrounds of the
aspirants vary. They live in small cities, remote towns and are not highly
educated nor from very well-to-do families. The record certificates are dear to them and worth more than their
lives. India made the highest applications to Guinness in 2011. Many Indians
are setting and breaking records, and some of them are weird too.
Anand Bansode from
Sholapur, Maharastra, scaled the Mount Everest and strummed his guitar for 15
minutes to make a new Guinness record. Dr Rakesh Sinha holds the Guinness World
record for removing the highest fibroid from a uterus. He applied for the
record in 2000 was because he felt that Indian surgeons are under-rated internationally.
Shashikant Khanvilkar holds the Limca record for rendering instrumental
versions of Marathi songs on a comb. Kapil Gehlot pulled a 1,046kg car tied to
his beard along a distance of 68.96 metres in 7 minutes and 28 seconds. He has
a place in the Limca Book. Neutrogena – 1,056 people created a Guinness record
for the largest umbrella mosaic.
Here are some
of the odd records: Subash Agarwal holds the Guinness World Record for the
maximum number of RTI applications. In Rajkot, 24,435 couples shook hands to
create a Guinness World Record for the most number of handshakes
simultaneously. In Dimapur, 368 musicians performed a song to break the
previous Guinness record set by 250 guitarists in England. Jyothi Chindak of
Belgaum, Karnataka, made the longest link with 500 butterflies in 2012. She
used ceramic powder, foam sheet, paint and fine stone lace for the butterflies.
Sucheta Kadethankar of Pune became the first Indian to walk across the
Mongolian Gobi Desert, in 2011. She completed the 1,609km trek in 51 days, 11
hours and 40 minutes. She was among the successful seven of the 13-member
international expedition team.
It isn’t only individuals
who are keen for record; in September 2011, Greenpeace India collaborated with
the Le Meridien hotel in Delhi to create the world’s heaviest baigan bartha (smashed
burnt brinjal dish). The move was part of the campaign to protest against the
introduction of genetically modified BT Brinjal. Some 500kg of organic
brinjals, 50 chefs and half a day later, the world’s heaviest bharta was cooked
in front of 500 people at Dilli Haat. For Sahara India Pariwar, a Guiness
record was another way of reasserting their patriotic identity. This year, on
May 6, the company got 1,21,653 of its employees together in Lucknow to sing
the national anthem simultaneously, at one location to break Pakistan’s record
for the same feat.
Wish to get
into the record books? The Guinness and Limca Book of Records accept
applications online and for free. The Limca Book prefers hard copy
applications. Once Guinness receives the application, they will send
information packs titled ‘Evidence Required’ and ‘General Info’ outlining the
documents needed to be submitted. For a fee, record holders can hire a Guinness
World Records adjudicator to authenticate their records. The Limca Book will
require you to authenticate your record claim by a gazetted officer, school or
college principal.
Once the
application is received, Guinness World Records takes six weeks to assess it
for an existing record and 12 weeks to assess the application for a fresh one.
There are no cash rewards for record setters or holders. But the Limca Book of
Records offers a 30 per cent discount on the cover price of the book. For
details log onto www.guinnessworldrecords.com
and www.limcabookofrecords.in .
By the time this blog is posted, new records would be set or broken! After
reading this many more applications may be added!
* To be here or to communicate: aneelanike@gmail.com
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