Shot at Guinness record by singing `Jana Gana Mana`

New Delhi: More than a lakh people in Assam’s Dibrugarh district will gather this Tuesday along the banks of the river Brahmaputra and sing the national anthem in a bid to enter the Guinness records.

Artist Apuraj Barooah, who has already etched his name in the Guinness book for the longest scratch art in London, is now spearheading this attempt along with two other unique bids at the world records. "Over one lakh people will gather along the banks of the river Brahmaputra in Dibrugarh and sing `Jana Gana Mana` and `O mor aponaar dekh` (Assam`s anthem). Guinness officials from London will be here for verification," he says. Besides this, hundreds artists from the state will attempt to make the world’s longest painting of 10 km. "The painting will depict national symbols like flags, emblems, birds, flowers and monuments of over 250 countries. It will be done in two parts ? one in Dibrugarh and the other in Guwahati. Then they will be brought to Dibrugarh and the two parts will be joined for Guinness officials to judge," Barooah told reporters on phone. The events will continue till January 6. In the third attempt, nearly 2,000 writers will showcase their creativity to achieve the Guinness title for `Most People to Write a Story`. "The story will be based on social responsibility and duty of the present generation to establish India as a developed country. Through the story, we shall try to encourage the present generation to discuss the past, visualise the future and then to be in the present," Barooah said. Both the central and state governments are sharing the responsibility in organising the events, besides several NGOs, organisations and individuals. DONER Minister P S Ghatowar Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi will be inaugurating these attempts along with several well known artists. Last year, Barooah entered the Guinness records for creating the longest scratch art piece. His work 20.30 metres long and 1.4 metres wide contained 40 pictures of world folk dances including the famous Bihu dance of Assam. Scratch art or scratchboard art is a technique where drawings are created using sharp knives and tools for etching into a thin layer of white China clay which is coated with black ink but Barooah developed his own style which he calls Bromide Scratch Art. It involves scratching bromide paper with a razor blade to reveal reds, oranges, yellows and whites beneath the exposed black face of the paper. PTI