Disclaimer: This article is based on actual news from the real world – honestly! However, it has been sprinkled with a healthy dose of satire.
It used to be that it was pretty easy to set a Guinness World Record. Shortly after they started keeping track in 1955, you could probably have set a world record for drinking Guinness at your local bar (and yes, the name actually derives from the Irish stout). But now that all it takes is a dream and the desire to do something stupid to set a record (and lots of money if you want someone there to certify it in real time), you’ve got to dream bigger and do something even stupider to make your mark.
Rubik probably didn't envision this when he invented his cube. (guinnessworldrecords.com)
Running a marathon? Who cares? Guinness does, but only if you’re dressed as a vegetable, which probably very much annoyed every other marathoner. Largest assemblage of people dressed up as dinosaurs? Doesn’t matter to Guinness unless you can attach a dance party to it (did they break the record? You bet jurassic they did!). What about solving a Rubik’s Cube? BORING. Maybe while skydiving? Now you’re talking, but dream bigger. Okay, what about solving TWO while skydiving? If this sounds too outlandish to be true, too bad, because it just happened.
Ishaan Hadkar is 24 years old and has been Cubin’ it for years. Yes, we just said “Cubin’ it” to mean solving the Rubik’s Cube – let’s make it a thing! He’s been solving the puzzle since he was 10. What makes the whole thing interesting is that while he had 14 years of puzzle-solving experience, he had zero years of sky-diving experience before attempting his record. That means that he could’ve set a record for “falling out of the sky while attempting to set a world record.” Thankfully, that didn’t happen, but things did go awry on his first try.
“During my first record attempt, which was also my first ever skydive, one of my cubes actually broke mid-air,” Hadkar said. “But I didn’t want to give up, so I immediately got on the next plane and attempted the record again the very next minute.” The second time, everything worked out, and he Cubed it twice, solving one while in freefall and his second while gliding toward the earth from his 13,000-foot jump. And while he’s the proud owner of one of the dumbest world records currently happening, now that he’s a pro at Cubin’ it (is it a thing yet?), the sky’s the limit – literally.
“With records, there’s never really an end,” he philosophized to Guinness. “Right after landing, my first thought was that I could have probably solved five cubes in the air!” But, he didn’t, so if you enjoy solving a Rubik’s Cube or three and aren’t terrified of heights, perhaps you can break his record. Especially if you’re somehow allowed to dress as a vegetable while doing it.
