Niaga ti enod sah eh. No, this is not a typographical error. In Shishir Hathwar's language this means, 'He has done it again'. The world took notice of this Bangalorean when he broke the record for 'Fastest Spelling Backwards of 50 words' in 2010'. Well, this 26-year-old broke another world record again for the 'Most number of words spelt backwards in one minute' on May 18, 2012 at the Hotel Al-Falaj, Muscat, Oman.
He spelt 30 randomly chosen words backwards in one minute. The previous record stood at 16 words and was held by Mary-Lou Pearce of the UK. "I was invited by the Indian Social Club, Muscat, Oman to give a demonstration of my skills, and to officiate as a judge at a spelling bee competition conducted by them in collaboration with India Spell Bee (an organisation that conducts spelling bee competitions both in India and abroad). It was during the course of the competition that I attempted and successfully broke the Guinness World Record," said Shishir.
The second world record came as a pleasant surprise. "I was elated that I broke another world record, and that too by a large margin. It gave me immense satisfaction to perform in front of the Indian Diaspora in a foreign country, and I felt that all the hard work I had put in throughout my life had finally paid off," he said.
A scientist at Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), a Government of India Enterprise under the Ministry of Defence, Shishir said that despite being in the technical field, he has managed to dedicate a fair portion of his time towards the study of English literature.
"During the tournament, I was absolutely confident that I would break the record and I was not in the least bit nervous," he said. Naturally gifted, Shishir has not taken any formal training in spelling words backwards. Though he has read English literature extensively, he believes that the visualisation comes to him naturally.
"The talent was discovered by my friend at the age of 16 when I read a signpost backwards. Till then, I had assumed that it was an art that every person was capable of," he said.