Abdul Salim Padavanna, curio and stamp collector from Manjeri, Malappuram, believes that records are meant to be broken. Quietly, Mr. Salim broke a record held by a British woman and entered the Guinness World Records by eating a banana in the fastest time.
The Guinness event held in March this year at Peerumedu made Mr. Salim the fastest banana eater in the world when he consumed a nine-inch 135-gm ripe banana in 17.82 seconds. But the achievement had some special clauses to it. He accomplished the feat with his hands tied behind and he had to peel the banana with his teeth.
He broke the record of 20.33 seconds achieved by a British professional eater Leah Shutkever two years ago. “It was amazing that I could easily break the record of a professional eater,” said Mr. Salim.
Mr. Salim says that his feat is not merely a personal gain, though he did it for personal achievement. “It is a creditable achievement for my country. It is recognition of the talent that India has.”
Mr. Salim already held the Universal Records Forum recognition for his collection of postcards with Gandhiji’s photos. “A record is a record. The shine of which increases especially when it becomes a global record,” he said.
He said he was the 65th individual from Kerala to achieve a Guinness World Record in the last 68 years. “But I am sad to see the attitude of those in power towards the achievers,” he said.
When Qatar hosted the Football World Cup in 2022, Mr. Salim had captured the attention of the football and stamp worlds by graphically recreating the history of World Cup from its origin in 1930 to the present day through stamps. Each stamp in his exclusive World Cup collection spoke a lot about the game and its evolution in the last 90 years.
A popular curio collector, Mr. Salim has many rare items from yesteryear. “The joy those curios give me is immense,” he said.
