Arnav Daga, one of 18 bright youngsters recognised at The Telegraph Online Edugraph 18 under 18 Chapter 2 awards in 2023, has now gone on to make a place for himself on the global stage. The 15-year-old student from a city school has built the world's largest playing card structure using 143,000 playing cards and no tape or adhesive.
It took him 41 days to finish and measured 12.21 m (40 ft) in length, 3.47 m (11 ft 4 in) in height, and 5.08 m (16 ft 8 in) in breadth.
When asked how he is feeling about his achievement, the 15-year-old says, "It definitely feels overwhelming. Back in 2020 from dreaming about something this big to actually making it and breaking a world record in 2023 is definitely like living it. I'm even more inspired and determined to work on further with bigger and more advanced projects."
The construction includes the Writers' Building, the Shaheed Minar, Salt Lake Stadium, and St Paul's Cathedral, four famous structures from Kolkata where he resides.
Arnav has broken the record that was set 11 years ago by Bryan Berg (USA) who created the longest duplicate of three Macao hotels, measuring 10.39 m (34 ft 1 in) in length, 2.88 m (9 ft 5 in) in height, and 3.54 m (11 ft 7 in) in width.
When Arnav was only 8 years old, a Cartoon Network show inspired him to build a pyramid out of playing cards. By the time he was 13, this early passion had developed into much more than a pastime. This is something that the class 10 kid from Sri Sri Academy spends a substantial amount of his day doing and describes as his passion.
"Bryan Berg was my inspiration when I first saw in 2020 stacking and was immediately amazed by his Guinness world record. The moment I saw him stacking was the moment I realized even I wanted to build something this massive one day. After years of hard work and practice here I'm now attempting and successfully establishing a new record title that has been standing for more than a decade."
Read more about Arnav's journey here
Edugraph wishes Arnav all the best for more accomplishments in life!
