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Brighter side of web - ashrita
The Giant Pencil ! - 76 Feet
When I was in New York for Sri Chinmoy's birthday celebrations, I was able to watch an unusual event occur. - The making of the world's largest pencil!. It took 2 weeks to make and we saw it being put together with huge amounts of wood, graphite and even a giant rubber. Ashrita said the most difficult thing was getting a big enough piece of graphite. Apparently the graphite rods they found are used in nuclear power stations.
Ashrita said:
"The pencil was made to honour the extraordinary creativity of Sri Chinmoy, so we wanted to make an extraordinary writing implement."
Sri Chinmoy made a drawing from the pencil, by moving a sheet of paper. The pencil was then lifted up by a crane, towering above the local shops.
The pencil is now destined for a museum in New York.
Video of pencil being made at Sri Chinmoy TV
There is a pencil museum in Kendal
Ashrita recently set a new record for backward bowling of 199.
After months of practicing for over two hours every day, Furman regained the record with a 199 at the AMF Van Wyck Lanes in Richmond Hill on April 11 in front of several official scorers. It took him five practice games before he could surpass Scrandis.
“It’s a real science. It takes tremendous focus,” he said of the sport. [1]
Once officially certified by Guinness, this will be Ashrita's 145th record he has broken since 1979 Ashrita currently holds 62 recoreds
I only saw Ashrita once or twice during my stay in New York. One time was just after he had broken a new record for backward bowling. Ashrita was very happy and full of energy and enthusiasm. I think 199 is a pretty good score bowling forward let alone going backwards.
This photo is from Ashrita's blog entry about his first record attempt. Power of Positive Thinking
Ashrita is a student of Sri Chinmoy and manages a health food store on Parsons Boulevard, Jamaica New York.`
[1] Queens Chronicle
Ashrita with Tiger
Ashrita has broken records in a variety of exotic places. He also has a great fondness for animals, even dangerous ones. I remember one record where he tried to set a Guiness record for underwater juggling in a tank full of sharks. This was actually one of the few records he missed ( a shark knocked a ball away!)
Anyway in his blog entry Ashrita talks about his fascinating experience befriending a Tiger and then proceeding to set a record.
"The Abbot also told me to put my hand on the tiger’s back so the tiger would know that I was in control! Wow! I certainly didn’t feel like I was in control! But I could tell the Abbot was monitoring the tiger’s every move."
Ashrita setting new record
Ashrita set a new record for spinning top here in Turkey. The record involved spinning a top for a distance of one mile along a hotel floor. Ashrita broke the record in a time of under 1 hour 30 mins.
View: Ashrita's new blog
View: An Embarrasing Moment - from Ashrita's training.
New Record for Balancing 50 Foot Pole.
Ashrita Furman broke one more Guinness World Record in South Turkey recently. This record was for holding up a pole 50 feet in length. Ashrita balanced the pole on his chin for 15 seconds. This was sufficient for a new record, subject to confirmation from Guinness. Ashrita set the record in an ancient Roman amphitheatre in Aspendos. The amphitheatre was built in AD 162 by the Roman architect Zeno. It was built to fit 12,000 spectators and even 2000 years later the ruins make a very impressive venue.
(photo coming soon)
Ashrita setting a new record for the spinning top.
In a record breaking year, Ashrita set another Guinnes world record. This time the record was for keeping a spinning top going for the longest time period. The previous record was two hours, 52 minutes and 11 seconds. Ashrita increased this to 7 hours and 1 minute.
Ashrita has been dubbed "Mr Versatility" for his tremendous array of breaking records. This year he has set record for upside down juggling, fastest mile whilst crawling and in the past he has set records such as underwater pogo sticking in the Amazon for 3 hours.
When Ashrita is not breaking records he studies meditation with Sri Chinmoy and runs a health food store in Jamaica, NY.
Ashrita balancing milk bottle on head
Back in 1983 Ashrita broke a Guiness world Record for balancing a milk bottle on his head for 24 miles. I like this record because, although it looks funny it requires tremendous persistent concentration. I try balancing a bottle of water on my head but its not easy.
Ashrita on the way to breaking another record.
This Guiness record is for the most number of eggs successfully balanced upright at one time.
He broke the record of 420 eggs in 7 hrs. 33 minutes and finished at 700 eggs in a little over 12 hours.
Sri Chinmoy recently said that nobody could match Ashrita's concentration.
His record inspired me to try balancing an egg. Not as easy as Ashrita makes it looks.
Underwater juggling world record holder Ashrita Furman attempts to break his own Guinness World Record beneath the surface of the Aquatheatre, Aquaria KLCC in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It should be simple, if he can just avoid the encircling sharks...
Ashrita, staying in Turkey, set a new Guinness World Record recently. The Record was for the fastest mile for spinning a child's top. The record entails keeping the spinning top going continuously for a measured mile in the fastest time. Subject to ratification by Guinness, Ashrita succeeded in setting a new record in a time of under 1 hour 30 mins.
View: Ashrita's New Blog
View: An embarrassing moment incident from Ashrita's training.
Ashrita juggling upside down
In the company of Tigers Ashrita Furman , of Queens Jamaica set a new record for Juggling upside down in Conneticut's Beardsley Zoo. Ashrita successfully juggled three balls 248 times while hanging upside down in a pair of gravity boots. The previous Guinness record for that event had been 197 juggles. Inevitably Ashrita gets asked why he does these records. I think the main reason is that he really enjoys doing them. We all get joy out of doing better and transcending ourselves. Through his meditation and studying under Sri Chinmoy, Ashrita has shown how we can do many things which otherwise may seem "impossible" His versatility is particularly admirable.
Photo by Jowan Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
