10-year-old girl seeks entry into Limca Book of Records

Tiruchirapalli, Dec 10 (UNI) Seeking to enter her name in the Limca Book of Records, a 10-year-old girl here has executed a feat of reciting all the 1000-odd couplets of Thirukkural, authored by ancient Tamil sain-poet Thiruvalluvar, in 12 minutes.

Talking to newspersons, the girl S Deepa's teacher-cum-trainer G V Shanmuganadhan said she could recite all 1,330 couplets Thirukkural in 12 minutes, each one in less than a second.

The unique recital has been recorded in a CD and along with press clippings, it would be sent to the authorities of the Limca Book of Records, he said.

In the presence of media and other officials, including education department officials yesterday, Deepa emulated her own previous record, reciting the couplets in 11 minutes and 47 seconds.

According to her parents and school teachers, at first sight her recital would be incomprehensible, with her lips quivering due to the intense speed while uttering the couplets. But a closer look would reveal her achievement. The girl would pause for breath just once between every three couplets.

Shanmughan said she initially recited 130 couplets at the 50th anniversary function of her school. Training to make her recite all the couplets took six months, he added Deepa's father Selvendran, a washerman, guided her along with her teachers to learn the couplets at home. Mr Shanmuganadhan recorded her recital in a cassette, which was played at her home every night.

Her practice also included sessions of yoga and pranayama classes, to deliver it without too many pauses.

After six months of rigorous practice sessions, Deepa became so comfortable with the couplets that she became confident enough to face any type of grilling in Thirukkural. Given the first or the last word or the serial number of any couplet, she can deliver it without stutter.

She is now being trained to recite the couplets along with their meaning, Mr Shanmughan added.

UNI