Records are smooth sailing for this Delhiite

NEW DELHI: Shreenath Dikshit can make a single paper boat in less than 10 seconds and can fashion about 500-800 boats at a time. He has just made it to the Limca Book of Records for his skill in making miniature paper boats, a hobby he picked up as a child. “It’s been a lot of hard work. Like every child learns from his elders, my father introduced me to this art of making paper boats. But, for me these were not ‘just’ paper boats, I realised they were dreams setting sail on a fascinating journey,” says Shreenath, a second year student of Ram Lal Anand College in the Capital.

Using glazed paper, Shreenath creates boats as small as 2 to 4mm. The colourful miniature boats look like a kaleidoscope of Shreenath’s dreams. He will now test his skill by trying to get into the Guiness book of World Records. “Nobody has experimented with miniature boats for a world record. Seeing my interest in making small boats, my grandfather told me to start a collection. I used to throw them away earlier. Now, I save them all and have an impressive collection.”

Shreenath’s collection at the time of his Limca Record was 8,800 boats and now he has managed to add another 200 in the last few weeks. “Limca Book was a challenge but now that I have crossed that I am more confident about myself. Soon I’ll head for the Guiness record. But I’m going to try and increase my collection before that. I’m also trying to lessen the time taken in creating each boat.”