Raj Kumar, a music teacher from Delhi government's School Of Specialized Excellence, Dwarka Sec-22 was awarded 'Face of Directorate of Education (DoE)' on Saturday.
Raj Kumar also holds the Guinness Book of Records for playing the Sitar for over 32 hours.
After getting awarded with 'Face of DoE', Raj Kumar told ANI, "Our responsibilities increased when the Directorate of Education appreciates our work. I do not have words to express my happiness. Everyone is happy in my family. I feel that this is the blessings of my Gurus, Goddess Saraswati and the audience."
Previously, Kumar served as the Cultural Secretary of Delhi's South-West District. He headed a position in Chhatrasal Stadium, Model town for two years after South-West District topped among 11 districts in cultural activities.
He even served as coordinator for the Delhi government's Maitreyi Yatra, a student exchange programme of students of Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi.
On creating the Guinness Book of Records by playing the Sitar for 32 hours, Raj Kumar said, "Creating Guinness World Record was a dream for me, it is really difficult to hold sitar for long. Before me, an artist had record for 29 hours, I believed that he was next to god. It is not possible to play the sitar for so long. I practised for 10-12 hours daily and the creating record was only possible after those practice hours."
During the days of quarantine, Raj Kumar practised for long hours which made him believe that he can break the record of 29 hours of playing the sitar.
"During Covid-19, it was really difficult for us to teach how to play the sitar to students in online classes. You can show where to keeps hands, how to press the strings, but Swar can be only taught to students offline. During the first wave of Covid-19, I was infected, so while in quarantine I got the opportunity to practice for long hours, this made me believe I can break the record of 29 hours of playing the sitar," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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