RC Mapuca creates a Guinness record
Rotary Club of Mapuca, RID 3170, has become another Rotary entity to create a Guinness World Record. This time it is for forming the ‘Largest Human Representation of a Text’.
There was a twin objective in attempting this record; Rotary International’s 114th birthday in February, which coincided with Rotasia 2019, the South East Asia conference for Rotaractors, which RID 3170 was hosting for the first time in Mapuca, Goa. The current DRR Nishita Pednekar is also from the Rotaract Club of Mapuca.
RC Mapuca President Ajay Menon said the planning for this attempt began in Oct 2018 and “our research focused on a record that can be realistically broken and one that will boost Rotary’s public image, while highlighting Rotary’s humanitarian service.
It was decided to try for “the largest Human Representation of a Text”, the existing record for which was created in Wessex, UK, with 268 people. To create such a record, each individual forming the entire text should hold an alphabet, numeral or punctuation mark, with a space being denoted by a person holding a blank placard.
A core team of 20 Rotarians from RC Mapuca led by Raaj Khalap was formed and a total number of 962 persons including Rotarians, Rotaractors, Interactors from three schools, Anns and Annettes, all from Mapuca, and the Rotaract delegates attending Rotasia, were selected to form the record-breaking human text.
Menon said that officials from the Sports Authority of Goa and retired teachers were roped in to help and adequate videography and other technological inputs stipulated by the Guinness World Records team were used and the final submission made.
Education Secretary of Goa, Nila Mohanan, presided and the club has now got an official communication saying that they have successfully created a new Guinness Record.
The core message of the text, pertained to RI’s 114th anniversary; the Rotary motto Service Above Self; RI’s mission to promote world understanding, goodwill and peace; its mission to eradicate polio and this year’s theme: Be the Inspiration.
