Dye hard: 1,006 TN men pull off Guinness World Record

There is a massive stage set up on one end where two hosts try to entertain the audience with jokes interspersed with performances by dance troupes and bands. But, the 1,000-odd men dressed in dark blue facing the stage have little patience for it. They stand in front of long blue tables in lines of 26 each, armed with bottles of water, hair dye and towel. For, despite the music festival feel, they had assembled to try and create a Guinness World Record for “most people self-dyeing their hair simultaneously.”

This attempt christened “VIP Youth India Movement” saw scores of grey haired men wait in the sun, as comedians and dance troupes took the stage. As the count for the number of participants began, it turned out that 1,014 people from all across Tamil Nadu had come to be a part of a world record. Sivakumar had travelled with 45 others from Ramanathapuram. “When I came to know that they were trying to create an entry for the Guinness Book of World Records, I set my mind to be a part of it,” said the 50-year-old, using his towel to shield himself from the sun.

The event was supposed to begin at 12 and the clock was inching towards 1.30 pm. A number of men had abandoned their stations and were sitting on the ground with their towels on their heads while the representative from Guinness World Records, Jack Brockbank, walked by examining the arrangements a couple of times, visibly a little flustered in his swanky suit (it was 36 degrees Celsius).

It was at 1.55 pm that things finally picked up pace with the entry of Bollywood actor Karisma Kapoor and a pep talk from the organiser and actor R Kay and at 2 pm sharp, the proverbial gun was fired and in unison all the 1,014 participants began to wash their hair vigorously. “Once you’re done washing your hair, apply the shampoo. Now, wash your hands and show them to me,” says R Kay and all 2,028 hands go up in the air. “See? The colour does not stain your hands.” The participants then had to wait for 15 minutes before they could wash it off and then, Karisma stepped up to address the crowd with a “Vanakkam, Chennai!” She greeted everyone on Independence Day and wished them luck for their attempt to enter the Guinness Book of World Records.

By 2.30 pm, the dyeing was over and the participants were slowly making their way out for photographs to be taken by the Guinness staff to check for authenticity. Among them, 55-year-old Tharamani came out the venue with grey hair. When asked if the product worked for him, Tharamani said, “It works for me most of the time, but I have my hair really short now, maybe that’s why the colour didn’t sink in.”

Irrespective of the colour, what did sink in was the message that was put up on advertisement boards: “This hair colour shampoo, can be applied with bare wet hands on head, beard, moustache, hands and… chest.”

Later in the evening, Brockbank announced that among the 1,014 participants, 1,006 had fulfilled all the criteria and successfully created a Guinness World Record.