Girl sings in 102 languages and sets a record
SUCHETHA ACHIEVES FEAT IN CONCERT LASTING 6 HOURS, 15 MINUTES
A12-year-old Indian girl in Dubai set a record by singing in the biggest number of languages in one concert on the eve of her country’s 69th Republic Day.
Suchetha Satish, a grade seven student of The Indian High School, sang one song each in 102 languages in a concert titled Music Beyond Boundaries, at the Indian Consulate in Dubai.
Dr Kesiraju Srinivas, aka Ghazal Srinivas, held the previous Guinness World Record for singing in 76 languages at the Gandhi Hills, Andhra Pradesh, India, on June 2-3, 2008.
Suchetha’s record was certified by the US-based World Records Academy, which was represented at the concert by a Dubai-based legal counsel.
Marathon exercise
In the concert that lasted six hours and 15 minutes, the child prodigy sang song after song in 102 languages, stunning the audience that included Indian diplomats, singers and doctors apart from her friends, teachers and well-wishers.
Consul-General of India in Dubai Vipul congratulated Suchetha on her achievement.
“It is a great feat! I am completely spellbound! You have made our Republic Day this year very very special,” he told Suchetha, thanking her on behalf of the consulate and community. In two months, Suchetha learnt songs in 30 more languages. However, in the record attempt she targeted scoring a century and then dedicating two songs — in Hindi and Arabic — to India and the UAE.
The songs were chosen according to alphabetical order. She kept her 14 favourite songs, including those in Armenian and Slovakian languages, for the last part of the event.
At 10.10pm, she hit the century with a song in her mother tongue Malayalam — Kannaam
Thumbi Poraamo — sung by her favourite singer K.S. Chithra.
The 101st song was an Arabic song — Kun Anta — by Humood Alkhudher. She dedicated the song to the UAE, and all the nationalities living here.
“The song she has chosen as
the record setting song is a special one in Hindi as it is India’s Republic Day tomorrow,” her mother Sumitha, who compered the event, announced on Thursday.
Waving the flags of India and the UAE, Suchetha sang the song Chhodo Kal Ki Baatein … Kal
Ki Baat Purani by Mukesh from the 1960 movie Hum Hindustani.
Though her voice choked and she sipped water during the last song, Suchetha completed it exactly at 10.30pm.
Several guests congratulated the little singer, her mother Sumitha and father, Dr T.C. Satish, a dermatologist with Axon Medica.
They lauded Suchetha’s expertise in music and her parents’ perseverance.
A message for youth
Speaking to Gulf News, the record-holder said she wished to pass a message to the youngsters through her feat.
“I have been actively involved in campaigning against the use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs. So I use this opportunity to tell my young friends to stay away from these three vices, and, instead, take up music or sport.”
A recipient of Shaikh Hamdan Award for Academic Excellence, Suchetha is also an excellent dancer and a spelling bee champion. Though she wishes to scale new heights in music, her ambition is to pursue a career in medicine like her father.