The auditorium of Delhi University’s Sri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) has been at the centre of attraction since October 11 when one of its students Mritunjay Sharma started playing piano.
After accomplishing two feats: First of registering his name in limca Book of Records for the longest piano recital of 52 hours and second of breaking the Guinness World Records for recital of 104 hours, a third year B.Com student Sharma has continued his march ahead. The longest piano recital record was in the name of Polish pianist Romuald Koperski who played the instrument for 103 hours.
And, according to his die-hard fans and family members, if he continues until October 18 he would set a new world record for recital of 155 hours.
Sharma’s sister Sweety Sharma told The Pioneer, “He learned playing music at the age of three. The family feels proud of his extraordinary achievement. Besides playing piano, my brother can sketch and cook.”
The SRCC chairman Ajay Shriram said the authorities not only postponed renovation work of the auditorium but also extended financial assistance to Sharma. The SRCC Alumni batch of 1964 has supported Sharma financially, said teacher-incharge Aruna Jha, adding that Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh was also present on Thursday night at the auditorium when Sharma had broken the record.
“He (Sharma) approached me saying that Ma’am will you help me achieve my dream and since we know how good he is at piano, we all decided to help him,” said Jha.
Students and teachers are camping at the auditorium to make sure that Sharma continues playing on his synthesiser with motivation.
“We are singing, clapping and cheering so that he does not fall asleep. The piano on which he plays has been bought by our alumni,” Jha said.
Sharma is so engrossed in achieving his goal that as per the rules he is allowed to take a five minute break for every one hour but he plays continuously for seven to eight hours.
“He takes a break after playing for long hours. He plays music of different nations, films and raag. No tunes played can be repeated for 24 hours. There are independent observers every four hours to keep a watch on him,” added Jha.
“The entire performance is being recorded on video, and would be sent to Guinness World Records for evaluation. While Guinness officials haven’t been able to make it to the event, independent observers have been watching Sharma’s performance over the past seven days,” a senior college official said.