By IANS
Kozhikode :A 40-year-old man in Kerala set a new Guinness record Monday by playing the tabla for 102 hours and 45 minutes, bettering his own 2005 feat of 57 hours.
Sudheer Kadalundi ended his marathon tabla session at 2 a.m. Monday at Kadalundi, 25 km from here. He began playing the instrument Wednesday (April 2).
The venue of the record-breaking performance in the small town wore a festive look. A large number of people had gathered, egging on the exhausted Sudheer, clapping in tandem with the rhythms he played on the tabla.
The village had formed a 500-member committee with the panchayat president as chairman for organising the event.
“As per the Guinness rule, he is allowed to take five minutes’ rest after an hour of performance. In the beginning, he was taking 20 minutes rest after four hours. But on the last day he took five minutes rest after each hour,” Abdul Azeez C., media convener for the event, told IANS.
“Four cameras were continuously recording the event. Besides, some prominent personalities came to attest the event every eight hours,” Azeez said.
Groups of playback singers and instrumentalists kept Sudheer company. As per the Guinness guidelines, the thalam (beat) that was played during a four-hour period should not be repeated in the next four hours and one particular beat should be played for at least two minutes.
Sudhir completed the venture under the close watch of a team of doctors led by V.P. Sasidharan, deputy superintendent at Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode.