Chennai: Ten students from the Talent Development for Arts and Crafts, in Myalpore, got their names etched in the Kalam Book of Records by creating a world record.
On 21 July, the students were involved in a tying and dyeing task in which they coloured 118 pieces of cloth and tied everything to a rope within 1 hour and 16 minutes, creating a new world record under the supervision of T Kumaravel, founder and chairman of Kalam Book of Records. The students were Rithikka V, Niyati Kothari, Ananya R, Ananya Ganesh, Pruthvik P, Jayalakshmi V, Sri Lekha, Sai Aparna and M Karun Pirdhu, all belonging to the age group between 10 and 12 years.
Speaking about the achievement, their teacher and Talent Development for Arts and Craft’s founder, C Shilpa said, “Colour is something thatĀ refreshes the mind and the motive behind us creating this record is to promote a colourful life and spread awareness about positive thoughts for a vibrant lifestyle.”
Talent development for Arts and Crafts had earlier featured in Asian and Indian book of records by creating a stamp replica in a large size and Shilpa said that it was Kalam Book of Records themselves who asked them whether they can create this new record in tye and dye. “We had a plan for many days about creating a new record but it was Kalam Book of records themselves, who approached us with this record and within a span of three weeks we decided to do it.”
The highlight of the record according to Shilpa is that she did not give prior training to her students and it was on the spot that they were able to design the clothes with different colours and patterns using different objects like pebbles, cups, creating different patterns without any repetition.
“I had a lot of confidence in my students and though my target was 100 clothes in 120 minutes the students exceeded that mark and as a teacher I am very proud of what they have done and it is even more satisfying that they did it without any mistakes without a practice,” says the elated teacher.
Shilpa has been running the academy for the past 15 years in Mathala Narayanan Street and teaches over 60 students from the age group of two, all types of drawing, painting and crafts.
Asking what made the students paint different patterns in the fixed time, she says, “In my classes, I always emphasise on the creativity and abstain from teaching like a regular class. It is because of this and as well as the creativity that each student had, helped the students paint different patterns.”
Asked whether she has any plans for another record attempt, she says, “We have not yet decided, but we are planning to create another record in two or three months.”