Special talent: No pause, non-stop whistling for 48 minutes 22 seconds
Type of presentation: Devotional, Light classical, Veda, Telugu & Hindi film songs through whistle simultaneously playing tabla
Non-stop whistling and tabla playing
Vijaya Babu, from Anakapalle, Andhra Pradesh, is an accomplished musician, who can whistle non-stop for 48 minutes without taking a breath. Normally, a person can whistle up to 20 seconds non-stop. However, he does this through breath balancing where he does not draw in air even once during this time. This breath balancing is otherwise known as circular breathing technique.
The most interesting aspect of this musician is that he also plays the tabla while whistling. By whistling and playing tabla simultaneously, he has become a Jugalwadi (someone who plays two instruments simultaneously).
He usually sings devotional, light classical, Telugu and Hindi film songs.
World Records
Vijaya Babu holds Limca Book of World Records (2002) for his non-stop 20 minutes performance. He has also performed for The Guinness Book of World Records on May 21st 2002. His non-stop 48 minutes 22 seconds performance is pending for approval and an official declaration.
Profile
Born in 1949, Vijaya Babu worked for 30 years as a teacher and retired as Head Master at AMAAA (Anakapalle Merchant Association Adinarayana Aided) English Medium High School in 2007. Incidentally, he studied in the same school as a student.
Notable performances
Vijaya Babu has performed at 150+ programs, notably at the following places:
- Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham in the presence of Sri. Jayendra Saraswathi and Sri. Vijayendra Saraswathi
- Jugalwadi show at Jaganadha Theatre, Anakapalle in the presence of famous playback singer Sri. S.P. Balasubramanyam
- Shirdi Saibaba Samsthan, Shirdi
- Sri. Satyanarayana Swamy Devasthanam, Annavaram
- Sri. Narasimha Swamy Devasthanam, Simhachalam
- Sri. Venkateswara Swamy Temple, popularly known as Birla Mandir, Hyderabad
- Gemini TV (in ‘Once-More-Please’ show)
- Bhakthi Channel, a Telugu devotional television channel
Awards
- Ugadi Puraskar, 2005 by Visakha Samacharam
- Ugadi Puraskar, 2005 by Bhava Tarangini, a cultural organization, Machilipatnam
- Vocational Award by Rotary Club, Anakapalle
- Kurella Trust Award, Visakhapatnam
- District Best Teacher Award during his teaching profession
