Mangalore: Guinness quest to fetch Konkani world attention
Stany G Pinto - Times of India Mangalore
Mangalore, Jan 21: If all goes well, Mandd Sobhann, the Konkani Cultural Organisation, could set a Guinness record for the world’s longest singing marathon by multiple singers by 10 pm, January 27.
It is for this that the organization is spending a packet to bring the Guinness adjudicator to the event.
Eric Ozario, gurkar (head) of Mandd Sobhann, said Keith Pullin, the adjudicator from London, would be witness the event. If the singers meet the criteria, Pullin, who will bring the trophy with him, will hand it over to the singers at the end of the contest.
“This is why we are having an adjudicator from Guinness World Records to be present here, though it will cost us Rs 7 lakh to Rs 8 lakh,” said Eric.
ON A SONG: Singers practise for the Konkani Nirantari at Kalaangan on Sunday. They will be attempting to create a Guinness World Record in longest group singing
In the absence of an adjudicator, it took 453 days for the “Communidade Evangelica Luterana Sao,” to get the record in their name, Eric said. For the record, Mandd Sobhann needs to pay the adjudicator £2,000 a day, plus the business class air fare, apart from providing required hospitality.
Mandd Sobhann has taken care to meet all the Guinness criteria. Instead of taking a 30-second break between two songs and group change; they would take only 20 seconds. Also, the team is allowed a fiveminute break after every hour, which can be accumulated up to 15 minutes. “We will not take it and use it in case of an emergency,” said Eric.
The organizers are leaving nothing to chance. “The songs should be of three- minute duration. To be on the safer side, all songs are of 3.5 minutes long. Till the song exceeds three minutes, there will be a red light on and turn green after that. When the song is ending, the yellow light will come on,” said Eric.
The entire event will cost the organizers close to Rs 30 lakh. “Already, we’re running short of funds, but we need to do this for Konkani to reach international heights,” asserts Eric. But will the exercise bring in the desired spinoffs? “It’s like a double-edged sword. Some people will contribute towards the Kalaangan, irrespective of this feat. But there will be some who will appreciate our efforts and donate,” said Eric.
Eric and his team had gone on a walkathon for 100 days, visited 10,361 houses from Byndoor to Kasaragod in 1997 to generate Rs 10 lakh for the project. They had also lit the lamp of Konkani heritage in each and every house they had visited during the padayatra.
“Even now, Eric can go with a begging bowl to generate funds and it will be generated. But we urgently need (close to Rs 2 crore) to complete the Kalaangan project. By the time the funds are generated, the cost would have escalated. How long can this go on? That’s why this marathon effort,” explains Eric.
Also Read:
CLICK HERE TO VISIT KONKANINIRANTARI.COM