She will be the youngest to drive most kinds of multi-wheeler vehicles

Rifah Taskeen, a 2nd standard student of St Joseph School to set a record on Sunday, by driving 13 vehicles on November 5. This 7-year-old girl, a resident of NR Mohalla drives any power steering vehicle and completes 50 rounds driving in car reverse. Extra seat, extra pedals are attached for lorries to make her feel comfortable.   

First she will be driving lorry at Old Eidgah Ground at 11 am, and later she heads towards St Joseph’s School Grounds. There she will be driving bolero, tata ace, Scorpio, Innova, Swift, Esteem, Maruthi car, Zen, Maruthi van, Indica, Santro and a quad bike.

The family had applied for Golden Book of World Records a month ago. In a reply, Dr Manish Vishnoei, Asia Head, Golden Book of World Records has stated, "We have received your application for a World Record attempt. Your application sounds interesting and we are accepting the attempt with the title 'Youngest to drive most kinds of multi-wheeler vehicles."

“A boy in America has set a record at the age of 10 in racing by driving a normal car. We are happy our daughter has been selected for Golden Book of World Record. She will be the first to set the record in World, and we are eagerly waiting for the moment holding cross fingers. With count down as begin to set record, we are excited, thrilled and a bit nervous. We have been permitted to use the logo and word-mark of GBWR during the attempt,” adds her Tajuddin, who dreamt of making her a world champion from last five years, and gave her training from the age of 3.

“After the story was published in ‘City Express’, we got an opportunity to showcase her talent at  Makkala Dasara. Later, we submitted the details to GBWR. No girls have created a world championship and we hope all our dreams come true,” adds Mother Bibi Fathima, a Urdu School Teacher.

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Tajuddin has built a quad bike using spare parts from different vehicles, all from scratch. He has made use of parts from mopeds, engine from Kinetic Honda,  Chassis of  Suzuki Samurai, tyres of scooty Pep to build the vehicle. As he did not have any prior experience he had to face several challenges to  assemble the vehicle and took six months to build it.

Rajasthan's Royal Enfield biker couple wishes to row across country

This gentlemen and the lady received a warm reception on Thursday, when they arrived at the venue of Chamundivihar Stadium in their Royal Enfield bike to take part in the 14th Masters National Aquatic Championship.

60-year-old Anand Singh Shekhawat, with his wife Krishna Shekhawat (59) has drive for four days from Kota, Rajasthan to reached Mysuru. The couples have drive 1900 kilo meters, covering a distance of 500 kilo meters per day.  Anand Singh Shekhawat said: ‘This is our first visit to Mysuru, and we enjoyed the travelling.  As my wife also drives the ride, it will be not distracting. We have drive for 8-9 hours each day.”

It was a decade ago, the couple started touring the country in their bike.  They have toured Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu Kashmir, Kullu and Manali, Ahmedabad, Delhi and several other states they have visited.  

“India is a very beautiful country. Driving through the mountains, ghats, and hill station gives a amazing experience. We have toured half of the country, and we want to row across country,” says the couple, whose dream is to tour the length and breadth of the country.

When questioned what motivated them to take up bike riding, Anand Singh Shekhawat says, “We noticed foreigners coming to India, and hiring bikes touring the country. Then we thought, why we should not try. After our first touring, we realized how beautiful the journey will be. My wife also learnt riding bullet and we both enjoy our journey.”  

Charan Singh, another swimmer of Rajasthan said: ‘The nick name of Anand Singh  is Bullet Raja. The couple keep touring the country, and the journey is awesome. We have team of Royal Enfield Bikers, and the couple are very active.”

The couple who will be staying in Mysuru this weekend, wants to tour in and around city and visit the tourists places.

Master swimmers rock at Aquatic Championship

Master swimmers from across country took part in the three-day 14th Masters National Aquatic Championship held in Mysuru from November 1 to 3 at Chamundi Vidhar Stadium. Quite a good number of senior citizens who were part of the championship were found enthusiastically taking part in the event, organised by Karnataka Swimming Association. Couple of the senior participants have shared their experiences with City Express, thus: 

Bicycles is only means of transport for this 82-year-old swimmer 

She loves swimming, cycling, and scuba diving. She has won several awards and at National Athletics and National Aquatic Achievements; cycle and adventure sports. She is pedaling to educate populace about green initiatives. 

Meet 82-year-old Dr Bhagawathi Oza, an practicing gynecologist from Vadodara, who is an inspirational for several adventure enthusiasts. She has received two consecutive prestigious awards for the category of Sports and Adventurous Activities namely the Vayoshreshth Samman by former President of India Pranab Mukherji in 2016 and Lifetime Achievement in 2017.   

Selling her car, two wheelers, she choose to pedal 17 years ago. She has pedaled across country. Bicycles has been her only preferred means of transport for almost the last 15 years. For a green cause she has pedaled  3,000 km from Kolkata to Kanyakumari in 31 days in 2013 and has set a Limca book of Records. She says, she is very conscious of protection of environment and through pedaling she wants to spread the message among youngsters for conservation of nature.    

After winning three gold medals at the Aquatic Championship held in Mysuru on Thursday, narrating about her journey, she said: “Coming from a family of conservative roots, it was not an easy go for Miss Bhagawathi Oza, to take any decisions. I decided to become doctor, and was the only girl in the medical college. Gradually, I started learning swimming. After I turned 65, I started taking part in the championships and mountaineering expedition. I love my life very much. One has to explore the boundaries and achieve in life. I always believed that a man without an aim is like a ship without a rudder and therefore every man should have an aim in life.” 

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Disability did not stopped him from swimming

For 52-year-old Rajendra N Dhamal, resident of Pune swimming was passion from childhood. Unfortunately, he met with an accident in 1997, and his right leg has been amputated above the knee. 

Rajendra, who is rendering service in Police Department, met with an accident while giving escort for a Chief Minister vehicle. He is suffering from 80 per cent disability. Without losing hope, he decided to continue swimming and from last two years and started practicing swimming for rehabilitation (medical purpose) at Tilak Tank.  

He is the only disabled person to take part in the aquatic championship in open category. Expressing happiness for being part of the championship, and visiting Mysuru for first time, he told: “This is my first visit to Mysuru, and I loved the city. Youngsters should be confident always, without losing hope. Water is a good therapy and swimming is very good for therapeutic exercise. It gives strength and helps for knee rehabilitation and strengthens back. I enjoy lot swimming and wish more number of people should learn swimming.”  

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Know fitness secret of this octogenarian 

When people of his age complain about ortho problems, this  86-year-old Master Athlete Ramakrishna Aranak E Sanali from Maharashtra enjoys swimming and winning medals. 

 86-year-old Master Athlete Ramakrishna Aranak E Sanali from Maharashtra won three gold medals at the championship held in Mysuru.  

Being senior most master swimmer to take part in the championships, he was found very enthusiastically taking part in the breast stroke, 100 m breast stroke, free style and back stroke events.   

He is continuously taking part in the Championships from last ten years, and has won more than 25 gold medals at state and national -level championship. He has won several medals at the He has represented Indian twice at the International Competitions held in Canada (2014) and Hungary (2017). When questioned about secret of his fitness, he told its swimming. “From last 75 years am engaged in swimming. The day starts for me with swimming for an hour, and without it I will no do any work.”  

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Swimming has become part of my life

Swimming has become part of life for Lalitha Vijayaraghavan (67), a grand mother of five, and resident of Bengaluru. A native of Mysuru, Lalitha after winning a gold medal at the Championship under 65-69 category, going down the memory lane, said: “There was not so much encouragement for girls to learn swimming. But, my desire to learn swimming was growing day by day. One fine day, I stitched a swim suit dressed and jumped to water at the age of 14. Since then have never turned back and have taken part in several competitions and today, swimming has become part of my life.” 

Lalitha who does swimming for nearly 1.5 hours, says, she is enjoying the wonderful life, and swimming, traveling is like tonic for her. She has even represented World Master International Swimming contest at San Francisco, and expressed proudness about her children Manu and Meera, who are national level swimmers and are settled in abroad.  

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Swimming helps to promote healthy life style

M Satish Kumar, Secretary, Karnataka Swimming Association said: “The event was initiated to promote healthy life style and competitive spirit among the adults. This is the fourth time we are conducting the championship and first time in Mysore.” 

“When we first introduced the championship 13 years back we had only 200 swimmers from all over India. But this year we have around 1,100 registrations from across country. The highest participation is from Maharashtra Contingent with 155 participants in both men and women categories, followed by Karnataka with a contingent of 120 plus participants.”  

Priceless passion for coins

This Mysuru Advocate spends his entire income on acquiring coins. Collection of over 4,000 rare coins, include 1,300 coins from 218 different countries is a testinomy to his zeal and perseverance.

Money matters, they say. But for this advocate in Mysuru, it is only the coins that matter. Meet 36-year-old Mahaveer Hegde, who is passionate about coins. His collection of over 4,000 rare coins, including 1,300 pieces from 218 different countries, shows his zeal. Till date, he has spent about `15 lakh on coins, which are priceless to him and not intended for sale.

Commemorative coins, silver coins and coins from islands found in the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Timor Sea and Turks and Caicos Islands adorn Mahaveer’s exclusive collection. He also has vintage coins of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras arranged year-wise. Each coin preserves in itself the history of a land and they also offer a glimpse into their economic, social, cultural and religious habits. In next two years, this native of Mangaluru plans to collect coins from all the remaining countries across the globe.

Mahaveer’s tryst with coins began at the age of 11. “I and my childhood friends, Zahid, Chirag, Nandakishore and Vinayak, would exchange coins of different nations for fun. We then started approaching foreign tourists visiting Mangaluru, asking them to give us coins of their countries. Soon, the hobby turned into passion and within a few years, I collected 40 coins from different parts of the world,” says Mahaveer.

“I have almost all the regular coins in my collection, including 3,000 Indian coins. Now, my eyes wander only for rare coins at the exhibitions. I hope I get some of them in exchange of the coins that I have,” adds the avid coin collector.

Collecting and arranging Indian coins was the most challenging task for him, courtesy a number of varieties and denominations like One paisa, Quarter Anna, Ondanna, One Anna, Half Anna of 1834 and so on.

“It is comparatively easy to get coins of kingdoms as many coin collectors sell them after the royal family members do not show interest in pursuing the legacy,” he says.

Maintaining the coins is another challenge for him.

“They are delicate, and even a small scratch leads to fall in the value of the coin. As soon as I acquire a coin, I wash it with lemon and tamarind before getting it polished. Coins are preserved in special folders and coin books,” adds the coin collector. Apart from coins, he has a few currency notes of other countries and century-old postal covers and stamps of India. He is also planning to pen a book on numismatics in the near future.

They are not for sale

Mahaveer Hegde has sacrificed a lot in his life to keep his coin-loving genes happy. “Ever since I started earning at the age of 27, I have spent almost all my earnings on collecting coins. The family expenditures are managed since my mother is an advocate and other family members also earn. My parents do not support the idea of collecting coins much as they consider it a waste of money.

At times, I had to hide my collection of coins from them. Words of encouragement from some friends and family members, however, kept me going,” he says. And unlike many other coin collectors, he does not even plan to sell the coins to make big bucks. “If anyone is seriously interested in collecting coins, I am ready to gift a couple of them. But I am not going to sell these priceless coins.”

RARE COLLECTION

Mahaveer's collection of coins is amazing. He has coins of almost all the princely states and countries. Vintage Indian coins helps us take a peek into our rich heritage. He has an almirah full of coins, which will weigh over 150 kg. He loves coins more than anything else, and has been spending all his earnings on acquiring coins.

Coins of British era and princely states; Coins belonging to Napoleon-3 period; Coloured coins of Canada; Austrian silver coin; 1862 coin of king of Italy; 11th century coin of Mauryan dynasty
Coins from Chola and Mughal-era; Hyderabad Nizam coins; Coins of Tibet king; 
Mints of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras from pre-independence era are some of his rare collections.

Namaskara, this foreigner speaks Kannada like a native

Just hearing him speak in Kannada, you wouldn’t think he is a foreigner. For he just doesn’t say, ‘swalpa swalpa gottu’, but surprises you by speaking Kannada like a native...complicated words roll off his tongue easily. Hendrik Hardeman (52),  citizen of Denmark (born in Belgium), who has been residing in Mysuru for the past five years,  has learnt Kannada to read and write thoroughly. His command over Kannada will give you some serious language goals.

Hendrik who first visited Bengaluru as a tourist in 1996, was so impressed by the city that  he kept visiting India often.  He founded India’s first dedicated puzzle company in 2001, which operated till 2008. In these seven years , he had developed a special love for  Kannada language, and started learning the language.

He did not attend those classes where the spoken word is taught. His best teachers were dictionaries. He would constantly pore over them to understand the language. And he found that the best way to learn a language is to speak it.  

He says, “In the initial days it was challenging for me to identify the Kananda language, as people in Bengaluru were speaking several other south Indian languages in addition to Kannada, such as Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. It took me some time to identify  the Kannada alphabet.  After some months, I bought a dictionary and started learning Kannada words. In the beginning, I found it very difficult to understand  basic grammar like singular and plural words. By constantly referring to the dictionaries, I learnt the meaning of Kannada words and started using the words while communicating with people. And in a few months I learnt the nuances.”  

Hendrik says as Bengaluru is a cosmopolitan city with people speaking many languages, he couldn’t pick up the nuances of Kannada language. He was determined to master the language, so he shifted base to Mysuru in 2012. He says, “There are several instances when people looked at me in surprise when I spoke to them in Kannada. While some were confused when I spoke in Kannada, some have even  apologised for speaking to me in English saying, ‘sorry we thought you were a foreigner’, he says smilingly.

People would be more surprised to know that he has written a short story in Kannada.

To enrich himself, he has read the books of writers like Poet Kuvempu, Poornachandra Tejaswi, Jayanth Kaykini, P Lankesh, among others. His favourite short stories are Krishnagowdana Anne and Kiragoorina Gayyaligalu. . He earns his livelihood by translating books.

Concerned that Kannada is no longer the priority for many, he says, ““Some people think speaking in Kannada is less dignified and hesitate to speak in this beautiful language. I have seen parents insisting that their children learn English. According to me, first, one must learn one’s mother tongue and  then one can learn any language.”

During the 12th World Sudoku Championship and 26th World Puzzle Championship held in Bengaluru between October 15 and 21, Hendrik distributed a book to the foreigners who attended the event. The book gives a brief introduction to the Kannada alphabet, and the commonly used words in daily life, etc. He has transliterated the Kannada words in English. 

Hendrik who has visited several European countries, can speak many  languages like Dutch, German, French and Swedish. Coming to South Indian languages, he is fluent in Kannada while he can understand  Tamil and Telugu.

But his passion remains Kannada, he says: “Kannada thumba chanda bhashe, maathadakke matthe kelakke ( Kannada is a beautiful language—to speak and sounds nice).”

PROMOTING KANNADA  

In order to promote Kannada among children, he pans to write a series of adventure books for children. He is translating short stories of writer Jayanth Kaikini into Dutch as a personal project. Hendrik loves eating ragi ball (mudde), idli, vada with coconut chutney. He says, " I am interested in learning all languages, and all languages are interesting to me."

"It’s a great pride for Kannadigas,to see a foreigner staying in Karnataka, and taking interest to learn our mother tongue and teaching it to others. His project of translating the works of Kannada writers is even more laudable,"  

Pa Mallesh, Kannada activist.