Somewhere in Kanpur....

With over one lakh people singing India’s national anthem in unison at Green Park stadium in Kanpur, the industrial city set a world record.
The event, organised by city-based ‘Parivartan forum’, saw the participation of more than one lakh people of different ages, professions, and religious faiths, said official sources. A team of Guinness Books World Records was present on the occasion and recorded the whole proceedings. The Guinness Book would announce the result soon after going through all the facts and statistics. Pakistan had created a world record in this regard with 42,000 people singing the country’s national anthem in October 2012.
Soaked in the spirit of patriotism, people from diverse backgrounds starting poured in at the stadium much before the stipulated time of 9.30 am. The participants ranged from four-month-old Geetika to 75-year-old Mohammad Shahbir Ali; from school children to industrialists; from NCC cadets to policemen; from rickshaw pullers, bus drivers and unskilled labourers to IITians; doctors and corporate honchos. All stood together for 52 seconds, enthusiastically singing the national anthem with visible pride.
Ganesh Tiwari of Parivartan said that more than a lakh tricoloured wrist bands, meant for a headcount, were distributed to the participants. 400 schools join record feat
Anil Gupta of Parivartan said cameras had been installed at the entrance gates to document the number of people coming inside Green Park.
Before the event started, the Indian flag was unfurled from a great height inside the stadium. Sources said students and teachers from around 400 city schools participated in the event. The beelines of students extended to over half a kilometre. The enthusiast children had painted the tricolor on their forehead and cheeks and joined the others in raising nationalistic slogans. Patriotic music was also played on huge speakers to enliven the atmosphere. Soon, stadium witnessed an ocean of people, waving the tricolor high, filling the giant ground to capacity.
And then came the time when the participants were asked to stand in attention for singing ‘Jana Gana Mana.’ Fifty-two seconds later, the record was set, bringing much cheer to the faces. What added spice to the record attempt was the participation of Raju Srivastava, known for engaging the crowds.
The district administration and the police had to make tight security arrangements for managing the crowd.