Akshatha Kudla (26) and Chethan Koppa (32), a young couple who are Kannada teachers have entered the Exclusive World Records with their unique talent. The duo are associated with Mangaluru based Gopadkar Swaroopa Adhyayana Kendra, which aims to create an alternative to the existing system of education through painting, mimicry, dance and other art forms.
Chethan Koppa, a resident of Koppa in Chikkamagaluru entered the 'Exclusive World Record' for making largest paper cutting art using papers and stencil.Chethan Koppa is a paper cutting artist and an in-charge headmaster at Ulaibettu government higher primary school. He says, "Our achievement will encourage hundreds of students especially those who are studying in government schools, to exhibit their talents. I secured the certificate by making the largest portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. I used white and black paper sheets measuring 11 ft long and 10.6 ft in wide to make Gandhi's portrait on October 2 in Mangaluru during Gandhi Namana programme. Chandan Suresh who is also a student of Gopadkar Swaroopa Adhyana Kendra inspired me to achieve the feat"
Son of Babanna and Parvathy from Chikkamagaluru, Chethan has also authored few books including Amma Mattomme Kshamisu, Asmithe, Muhurtha Sariyilla. He has also directed plays including Kade Koogu and Bangarada Rekke and is serving as a resource person of Guruchethana programme by the education department. In addition, Chethan was also part of interactive sessions held with thousands of students under Akshaya Teru programme. Being a research teacher at Gopadkar Swaroopa Adhyayana Kendra, Chethan was part of several awareness programmes with an aim to transform lives of children for the last seven years.
Akshatha Kudla who works at St Aloysius Gonzaga school has achieved 'Exclusive World Records' certificate for mimicking different sounds in one minute.Akshatha was the only woman contestant out of 18 who made it to final list. Over 800 contestants participated in the mimicry contest. She says,"I could do mimic different sounds including vehicles' sound, musical instruments, sounds of birds etc only in one minute. In this contest, I mimicked 40 different sounds. The jury present in the contest was surprised looking at my talent. I want to encourage students to do multi-tasking. I learnt the art of mimicking at Gopadkar school and this has helped me to keep the students more engaged and support them in developing their mimicking skills." The duo still aims to achieve more. While Chethan has an aim to make 50x50 sized paper cutting, Akshatha wants to beat the world record by singing continuously for 106 hours.
