Akshinthala Seshu Babu of New Delhi, dressed as the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, stood motionless at the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan, New Delhi from 2:30 pm on Feb 21, 2003 till 8:40 pm the next day, a total of 30 hours 10 minutes.
He calls it the common man’s gift to the Father of the Nation — a world record that is. Thirty-six-year-old Akshinthala Seshu Babu’s birthday gift to Mahatma Gandhi is a record-breaking feat of successfully standing motionless dressed as the Mahatma here in the Capital for 32 hours and 55 minutes.
Babu, who will now stake claim to an entry into the Guinness Book of Records, began his feat on September 29 at 12 noon — without any support (minus Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘lathi’ in hand) — at the Capital’s Andhra Pradesh Bhawan.
“I am happy with my record and will try to do better in future. My aim was to bring India yet again on to the world map and highlight the work done by the greatest freedom fighter ,” said Babu, who was a yoga teacher and played football to build up stamina and will power, qualities he claims are essential for creating a world record. Today he follows the same routine of daily exercise and jogs for 12 to 15 km a day besides practising yoga for improving his concentration.
“Standing still” began as a hobby for Babu who first stood motionless at a function organised at Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. There he stood still for 5 hours 35 minutes, dressed as Mahatma Gandhi.
“When I realised that I could actually stand motionless for hours together, I was filled with the zeal to break the world record and who better to represent the country than Mahatma Gandhi? Soon my hobby became my passion. Mahatma Gandhi is the apostle of peace and non-violence and I am happy that I have been able to make people think about him yet again. . I hope that through my world record I am able to immortalise the value system that Mahatma Gandhi lived by,” said Babu.
