10-km-long handkerchief-chain to wish Indian cricket team good luck

A chain of handkerchiefs measuring ten kilometers in length, bearing messages from the cricket-crazy fans of Karnataka, became a symbol of good luck for the Indian cricket team, which began its ICC World Cup campaign in West Indies yesterday.

Launched by a leading Zee Kannada, a regional television channel, during February, the unique handkerchief signature campaign travelled across various parts of Karnataka collecting messages for the “Men in Blue”. A single handkerchief measuring 48-ft in height and 52.5 ft in width was also on display in Bangalore along with the ten-km-long chain of handkerchiefs.

Jury members from the Limca Book of World Records, who were examining the attempt made by the television channel to create a record for the biggest ever chain of signed handkerchiefs, declared that the handkerchief chain, including the large one, had approximately 60,000 signatures. All the smaller handkerchiefs had been fastened to each other to create a chain.

The handkerchiefs carrying messages inscribed by fans from across Karnataka also bore encouraging words for the Indian cricket team by prominent personalities like the prince of the Mysore royal family Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, cine artiste Umashree, swimmer Nisha Millet and others.

The television channel’s team travelled to schools, colleges, private institutions, hostels, shopping malls, theatres, Government offices and other places across Karnataka to collect the signatures expressing support for the Indian cricket team. The campaign had a slogan “Biddu, Yeddu, Geddu Baa – India” (Fall, Rise, Win and Come – India).

“We have received an overwhelming response to our campaign. We are planning to dispatch the handkerchief chain to Indian cricket team in West Indies”, a spokesperson for the television channel told reporters in Bangalore.