If there was a world record for number of
newspaper articles about one country’s world records,
India would probably have it. Not only have Indian
newspapers written about the innumerable world
record holders in the country, so has the Western
media. The latest example comes from the New York
Times Magazine, which published a feature by Samanth
Subramanian entitled “Why India is obsessed with
weird world records.”
If that headline seems familiar to you, it’s probably
because you’ve seen similar headlines before, such
as “Why India is obsessed with cricket,” “Why India is
obsessed with fair skin,” and “Why the Western media
is obsessed with what India is obsessed with.”
According to Subramanian, “nearly a tenth of all
Guinness World Records submissions now come from
India.” That’s hardly surprising to me, considering that
India has more than a sixth of the world’s population,
and a large proportion are youngsters who don’t mind
spending their time typing with their noses to set a
world record.
If anything, we should be wondering why India
isn’t sending more submissions to the Guinness World
Records. The government needs to appoint a special
committee to investigate this. We need to find out
where all the submissions are coming from, and whether
one or two states are lagging behind the others.
Perhaps Punjab is getting a little too carried away with
the Olympic Games and not spending enough time on
the Guinness World Records. It would be a real shame if
someone outside Punjab holds the record for non-stop
bhangra dancing.
I’m not sure who holds that record, but according
to the Guinness website, the Art of Living Foundation in
Ludhiana set the world record for the largest bhangra
dance on November 11, 2010, with 2,100 participants.
That doesn’t seem like a lot of people, but perhaps every
participant is required to demonstrate a certain amount
of bhangra skill. You can’t just go to the railway station
in Amritsar and say, “Come on, everyone! Let’s bhangra!’
Subramanian reports that many of India’s world
records involve mass participation, such as the most
simultaneous handshakes (two million people), biggest
blood drive (61,902 donors), and largest motorcycle
pyramid (201 men and 10 motorcycles). I haven’t
confirmed this, but I’m pretty sure India also has the
world records for most passengers on a single bus
(1,042), most bathers in a river (2.6 million), and most
participants in an angry mob (6.5 million).
Some of India’s world records are stranger than
others. For example, Harshvardhan Gupta, 24, of New
Delhi, holds the world record for bulb-throwing. He set
the record last July when he hurled a light bulb 33.51
meters. I don’t know what’s more surprising – that
Gupta was able to throw a light bulb so far or that such
a record even exists. Who decided that throwing light
bulbs was a feat worth measuring? And why light
bulbs? Why not onions or carrots or gulab jamuns?
(Please contact me if you’re interested in setting the
world record for jamun-throwing. I’m willing to stand
with my mouth open and set the world record for
jamun-catching.)
Holding a Guinness World Record is an impressive
feat, but with 40,000 records in the Guinness database,
some are obviously more impressive than others. I’m
proud that an Indian, Ram Singh Chauhan, has the longest
mustache ever (4.29 meters long), but not so proud
that another Indian, Radhakant Bajpai, has the longest
ear hair ever (12.5 centimeters). And please forgive me
for not being interested in any other body hair records.