Guinness says a world record is not simply a fact but a way to measure ourselves. Knowing the biggest, the smallest, the fastest, the most and the least, it says, helps us understand our position in the world and how we fit in.
As India regains its rightful position among the top global leaders and as we reach the 75th Anniversary of Indian Independence-the records were attempted to resemble cultural richness and inclusivity.
‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ which encompasses the celebration of Eternal Freedom. The first Record of Most number of Different Flags flown simultaneously is dedicated towards showcasing unity in diversity and towards ‘Vasudev Kutumbakam’ which means the world is one family. It shares a message to the global community of being together and joining hands to achieve something big and unique. The 2nd record for the Largest Ensemble of Damrus – the motherland’s ancient musical instrument, the sound of which resembles spirituality and awareness.
The improvised idea and the vision, which included the lessons learnt from our earlier shortcoming in 2014, required a dedicated and focused approach. Once the idea was conceived, there was no dearth of stimuli.
Great support came from the community and our sponsors. Organizations like BAPS, Vraj Temple, BJANA and the Brahma Kumaris offered their whole hearted and unconditional support.
FIA’s historic achievement came with relentless research, planning and implementation – be it the designing of the app for registrations, manufacturing the equipment utilized, procuring permits, sourcing funding and reaching out to the diverse communities, managing rehearsals, coordinating free transportation of over 20 buses, complimentary refreshments, a comprehensive approval process for the attempts to meet the rigorous benchmark requirements by the Guinness Committee, methodical submissions to seek approval to allow 2 attempts at the same time (another historic milestone for the community and FIA), securing the appropriate merchandise at the apt pricing, coordinating cost-effective shipping, broader promotions and cooperation of all the community media partners in promoting the GWR attempts including many other very minute planning details, all required over a year’s timeframe and numerous meetings including international travel.
FIA sponsors, in particular, State Bank of India, Amneal, and Bombino Express, stepped up and made the event possible even when supply chains impacted budget fluctuation due to inflation.
FIA Chairman Ankur Vaidya, who conceptualized the GWR plan and compiled the team which included GWR lead Parveen Bansal along with Amit Ringasia, Rohit Korat, Sidharth Murali, Amar Chavda, Mahesh Dubal and Dipak Goel.
President Kenny Desai led the Executive team’s efforts that support the entire GWR team and efforts including fundraising, seeking involvement of multiple organizations and monitoring the overall logistics. Anil Bansal –two-term FIA President (2020 and 2021) provided complimentary logistical support with 6000 sf of office/storage space to accommodate the large four truck loads cargo that was required to achieve GWR.
Parveen Bansal assembled a team of dedicated volunteers from FIA, BAPS, Vraj Temple, BJANA, State Bank of India, and the Brahma Kumaris who methodically implemented, rehearsed, and coordinated all the on-ground efforts to set these two records.
Each of the mentioned essential components were strategically aligned and were so important and intrinsically interlinked with each other that a failure of even one would have led to the failure of the event in total.
This herculean task, executed by 100 percent volunteers and in celebration of the motherland’s 75th year anniversary, is a testament to the community’s strength, which was displayed by being united and by joining hands and working to achieve selfless goals. Through FIA, the community achieved GWR records and made history.