The boy next door, Sanchit Sharma has left us all awestruck with his memorising skills. In December 2018, Sanchit broke the Guinness World Record for ‘Most Decimal Places of Euler’s Number Memorised’ by perfectly retaining 3141 digits of the irrational number ‘e’, breaking the previous record of 2500.
And now, he has made us all proud yet again by breaking two more Guinness World Records for India-
- Fastest time taken to arrange a deck of playing cards memorised underwater – The previous record was 4 min 26.88 sec, achieved by Krzysztof Kuich (Poland) in 2016. Sanchit clocked 3 min 42.50 sec, breaking the record by 44.38 seconds.
- Most playing cards memorised underwater – The previous record was 56, achieved by Christian Schäfer (Germany) in 2015. Sanchit successfully memorised 67 cards, breaking the record by 11 cards.
In his interview with DU Express, Sanchit shares his views on memorising – “I relate both digits and cards with images that I’m well acquainted with, like people I’ve met, characters I’ve known on shows and movies, and connect these images in my mind by concocting a vivid, imaginative story. I place this story in a setting that I’m familiar with and go through it to recall the information.” Sanchit is also a board member of the International Association of Memory, which is an organization that holds memory competitions worldwide under its banner. Being a part of the same, Sanchit has interacted with memory athletes from many nations. He mentions that he was inspired by other record holders in memory such as his close friends Lance and Alex (both from the USA) and this motivated him in his journey.
When asked about the whole process of breaking a Guinness World Record, Sanchit explains how it is quite rigorous, requiring 2 independent witnesses, 2 timekeepers, professional card player shuffle the cards, unedited videos and photographs from several angles. Sanchit approached the Bridge Federation of India (recognized by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports) who were happy to send an experienced member to shuffle the cards in both of his record attempts. Additionally, Guinness requires detailed independent statements from the record applicant, witnesses, timekeepers and other people involved. Contradictory to popular opinion, Guinness does not give a cash prize to record holders.
As comprehensive was the process, even more, daunting was the challenge itself. Sanchit started by practising to hold his breath at home. The first day he entered the swimming pool of Chelmsford Club, New Delhi (where he eventually attempted both records), he was terrified. However, he did not lose hope and instead worked on his breath-holding training by making a systematic schedule. Once he was comfortably able to stay underwater for about 2:30 minutes, he attempted both the records on the same day, one after the other, and finally conquered them.
A management graduate from Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, University of Delhi, Sanchit enjoyed being part of various college societies such as heading his college’s quiz club, being a member of the placement cell, also winning several case studies and finance competitions across the country. Like every other college student, he has a keen interest in watching shows like Seinfeld, Friends, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Sherlock, House, among several others.
Upon sharing advice for other students, Sanchit says “One must never confine to fear and lose hope, one must conquer it! Because either a person wins or learns”
We congratulate Sanchit on his achievements which have made the nation proud!
Find out more on – https://youtu.be/hgAzAbpIXwg
