8th March 2008

The very famous saying ” Where there is a will there is a Way” was going to materialise very soon ..
World was going to come to a standstill and people awe struck ...It was going the most important day where ..
Each number would be valued… Each drop of sweat would turn into a shining pearl.. It was the day when the courageous and determined team of 135 students from college of engineering Pune were going to do something which would never ever be experienced in the history of this country, state, city or college…
It was the day when 135 students were going to put in 8 months of their hard work to create a 2000ft painting which would be the longest painting by numbers ever made in the history of mankind ..for mankind
The theme was “ Journey from Evolution to Destruction of Mankind ”
Let me take you on this wonderful journey ...
It was the last week of August ..It was my first year of engineering ..it had been just a few days since my 4 year long journey had started...on a tiring Monday afternoon when I was walking by the college main building and then I suddenly stopped ...I saw this really attractive poster put up on the garden fencing of our college...
It said ” World Record Auditions for the longest painting ” ..I read it once again . ” World Record Auditions for the longest painting !!”. I was really excited .. the excitement was firstly because it was a chance for me to become a world record holder and the most important part was that it was related to painting...I don’t know when was the last time I had painted ..it was the thing I enjoyed the most ..it was the one thing I always did whenever I used to be stressed ...god had really given me an awesome chance ..
The auditions were on Friday ... I was all set ..I didn’t want to miss on this one.. my first few days in college and what a start it had been ..then came that most awaited Friday ...and after my 5.30 basic electrical engineering lecture I was off to the civil drawing hall .. There was a long queue but then I some how made it inside the audition hall ..as I entered the hall there were almost more than 150-200 students in there and being a fresher I hardly knew anyone .. I was given a seat and drawing sheets were distributed
One of the organisers Mrunal..announced that we had to sketch and paint in 45 mins ..I all set ..Sharpened my pencil.. and said my motivational prayer.. ‘your time starts now ‘was the call ... I immediately started off ...as my pencil made its contact with paper I don’t know how but my hand started sketching naturally .I felt as if I was back to my old days.. 7 mins and my sketch was done!!! Can u beat that :P... and now i wanted to utilize all my time for painting .. without wasting time ..i took my brush and started painting .. colours started blending beautifully and the effects were also very natural.. everything was going my way... 18 mins and i was half way through...now ..people had started observing me and were gathering around my table.. 30 mins and i was done .. i was extremely happy ... my painting had turned out to be very good..suddenly a girl named kavita came aside and clicked a photograph of my painting i was overjoyed but couldn’t express it then..
Auditions were done and a very very happy Alok ..came out of the audition hall..i was sure i would make it to the final 135 ...God that day was gr8... i spent the entire night dreaming about the world record and wat would happen next .. em>

And then practice sessions started ….everyday after college we gathered in the civil drawing hall and practiced everyday for almost 2 -3 hours .. we started off with small sheets and as days passed on we switched over to long rolls of paper.. the paintings were also getting tougher day by day.. but then we kept our focus and practiced hard .. there were times when we had to face a lot of problems .. the college faculty , exams , shortage of colours ..and many more .. but then we over came all of these…
Now we were just 2 months away from the record attempt… and now we had also started working in the main hall of our college.we started staying up for long hours and.. director sir often used to sneak in during our practice sessions.. and used to encourage us… by now I had made many friends .. and used to mix up with everybody.. .. my seniors used always tell me about CoEP and in CoEP.. it was fun .. these days were one of the most memorable days and will always be cherished .. one of my very good friends was Sagar .. who always treated me as his brother and was always helpful towards me .. the organizers of the world record attempt .. Akshay ,Aditya, Neha, Nandu ,Mrunal, Tejal, Ganesh, Shankar,Snehal and Sunil.. were also very kind and caring …
Now it was the month of Feb and we were exactly one month away… everyone was now more focussed and better prepared we had started rigorous practice ..
We toiled hard day and night.. some of my friends made fun of me .but i just ignored them.
And then the ‘D’ day arrived ..it was 8th March 2008 the day when the entire college was decorated with posters and paintings.. all 135 of us were present in college at 7.30 in the morning .. we were given our T-Shirts and numbers ..as soon as we got that .. we started placing the paper roll on the supports which were specially built for the event. Just minutes before we begun.. we had a group meet and were told about the plan for that day on the other hand the media persons and photographers took their positions ... After the meeting we took are positions. The clock struck 11 and we started.....
The initial 1.5 hours was to be utilized for sketching and numbering the blocks ..... in the scorching 12 o’clock heat we had started sketching.. our seniors kept on motivating us and do did our college friends and colleagues.... the photographers and cameramen were busy clicking photographs .. everyone was getting curious as to who’s photo would come in which paper... last 10 mins and we were busy numbering the blocks ..and finally time was up.. we had successfully completed the sketching and numbering .. we were pretty happy and just prayed to God that the painting is also completed in time. We given a break while the supervisors and organizers scrutinized the painting. I was busy chatting with my group members. The organizers had arranged for lemon juice and some light eatables. As time passed we regained our energy and were all set to go again..
We took our positions and started painting. This time we had to be careful and alert with colours with which we were painting. One small mistake could up the entire 2000ft long painting. I took was focussed and made sure that there is no mistake. It was 5 o’clock and we were almost 70% done. My group had finished our part of the painting and we were busy helping others. It was 6.30 and we were nearing finish the media had now started video shooting and interviewing our faculty .. the college students had gathered to see their friends who had toiled hard for the entire day... The clock struck 7.15 and the organizers declared the painting complete. ... as soon as they announced this all 135 of us were overjoyed and started dancing.. each and every one of us was happy and overjoyed by the fact that our 8 months of hard work and had finally borne fruit.. there were tears of joy in everyone’s eyes.. for me it was like being on the top of the world .. It was my first year in COEP and what a start it had been .. That day was one of the most memorable days of my life .. All of us had seen a dream and that day it had come true.. we had made the entire college proud ..
After celebrating the success of completing the painting we started measuring the painting .. It was almost 11.00p.m and everyone including our Director and the Supervisors were present ..it took almost 45 mins and finally we measured the last foot of the painting . And believe it or not wee has painted 1968 ft in just 7hrs!!.. this was a NEW WORLD RECORD..we jumped up into the air and screamed “ 3 cheers for ELAN Hip Hip Hurray...Hip Hip Hurray..Hip Hip Hurray!!
Finally 8 months after this new world record was officially registered by Guiness and each of us got a certificate issued by Guiness . One of the biggest achievements to date.... and will be written in Golden letters that
“ 135 students of College of Engineering, Pune created the Guiness World Record for the longest painting in the world by numbers”