Sandeep Kumar Soni, a young man in his late twenties, is on his way to creating a record of sorts.
Sandeep has written the entire Bhagwad Gita with engraved letters on plywood.
A resident of Jaroli area in Kanpur district, Sandeep spent over three years in completing all the 18 chapters of Bhagwad Gita.
“I have used the teak ply as a base and the engraved letters on it are made of sagon wood. The plywood base sheets are 24X32 and I have used 20 such sheets,” he told this correspondent on phone. Sandeep, who works in a private firm, says that he always wanted to do something that could make him famous.
“My mother first suggested that I should write the Hanuman Chalisa on wood but then we decided on the Bhagwad Gita. My mother, two sisters and my wife have assisted me in this Herculean task and my efforts would not have reached a logical conclusion without their help and support,” he said.
When the idea first took birth, Sandeep consulted his friends who were in the furniture business and they advised him on the kind of wood and the tools he should use. His friends also arranged the sagon wood for him.
Sandeep embarked on this mission on June 15, 2010 and completed all 18 chapters of the Bhagwad Gita on August 25 this year, using a total of 32 plywood sheets.
Sandeep used to work for two hours every morning before going to office and then would spend four hours in the night after returning home from work.
“I became fully cut off from my friends and relatives for these three years and did not miss even a single day in between. My mother, wife and sisters helped me in sticking the alphabets together,” he said. Sandeep admits that, in between, he did become weary and wanted to give up this task but it was his mother who encouraged him to complete the mission. “Had it not been for her, I would have probably given it up midway,” he added.
Sandeep, who lost his father a few years ago and is now the sole breadwinner of his family, hopes that his name will find its way in the Guinness book of world records, for which he has already applied online and is waiting for a response.