Many of us have tried walking with a book balancing atop our
heads… and not many succeeded in getting too far. Well, taking the balancing
act to a whole new level is Naib Subedar Azad Singh who is attempting to walk
the 43 km stretch from the Headquarters 2 Signal Training Centre, Panjim to GMC
Hospital, Bambolim with a football balanced on his head! Not just that, his
walk will have scheduled water and tea breaks which he will go through without
dropping the ball! This feat takes place today, December 16, 2014. Starting
5.30am, Singh commenced his attempt at breaking the Guinness World Record for
the ‘Farthest Distance Travelled with a Football Balanced on the Head’.
Naib Subedar Azad Singh is not new to the world of records.
His previous record, set in July this year, was travelling 103 km on a bicycle
with a water bottle balanced on the head in less than six hours for the Limca
Book of Records.
A humble officer, Singh is from Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan and
comes from a family of national level sportsmen including his father and two
younger brothers. He is full of energy and excited to set the next record. “I
have been practising for the past four months and so far, the football has not
fallen from my head. I am confident and waiting to start the attempt,” says
Singh, who aims at breaking the record of Abdul Halim of Bangladesh who had
covered a distance of 15.2 km in 2011. Singh’s feat is definitely more
challenging because he is walking a longer distance and the roads in his route
have ascending and descending slopes while Halim walked a flat stadium.
Singh of Headquarters 2 Signal Training Centre is walking 43
km for a reason. “December 16, 2014 marks the 43rd Anniversary of Vijay Diwas,
India’s victory over Pakistan in 1971. The distance between Panjim and Bambolim
is not 43 km, therefore I will be walking the stretch of Dona Paula to GMC four
times to cover up the distance.”
At the headquarters, Singh has the full support of his
officials. “Colonel N Shailendra Rao, Colonel Paramjit Singh, Major Parul
Bhatnagar and Colonel Bawsar gave me their support and without it, I would not
be motivated enough to take on this record. I always wanted to do something
different and I feel happy when people notice me walking on the road and click
my pictures with the football on my head. It requires a lot of concentration and
meditation. This challenge has made my body fitter and mind sharper.”
Mascot for the 127th Durand Cup Football Tournament held in
Goa in October-November 2014, Singh’s future plans include breaking more
records and setting new ones. “I have thoroughly read which records have been
set so far in the Guinness Book of World Records. My next goal is to set a
record by cycling with a football balanced on my head,” concludes the energetic
officer.
