Dubai: Kashi Samaddar, a Dubai-based Indian expatriate, never imagined that his regular business travels to different countries would one day make him a world record holder.
Today, he holds four world records including that for being the first person to have travelled all the countries and also being the fastest one at that.
On July 9, the World Records Academy acknowledged him as the "first person to have visited all the 195 independent states of the world plus Taiwan".
His achievement is listed in the Limca Book of Records as well.
Earlier achievements
In 2008, he was also the first person to have visited all 194 sovereign states which was acknowledged by the World Records Academy, Guinness World Records and Asia Book of Records.
Samaddar earlier made it to the Guinness World Records for being the fastest to visit all the sovereign countries. He completed his journey in six years, 10 months and seven days, between July 2002 and May, 2009.
"I used to travel for business very frequently. However, once when my visa was rejected, I decided I wanted to carry on with the mission of world peace and equal travel visa for all nationalities. I have continued with the mission and I am glad [to] have received a lot of encouragement and support from people [from] all over the world," Samaddar told Gulf News.
Today, travellers from around the world have also joined Samaddar on a common platform that also provides travel related guidance.
His travels to different countries range from a few days to a couple of weeks for each country. This not only means that he is travelling for several months every year, it has also continuously increased the number of his passport booklets, which are "18 and jumbo sized", as he puts it.
Asked on who foots the bill whenever he travels, he said: "I did not take sponsorships or donations. It is my mission and I want to continue with it for as long as I can."
Limca Book of Records
The idea of this kind of book that strings together ‘Indian' achievements originated in 1986.
The objective was to provide a platform to ordinary Indians to showcase their talent in their search for excellence. It was difficult then to ferret out details from people.
Some stood on one foot, grew nails, talked and clapped non-stop, floated and screamed, but didn't recall when they started or why they started.
The book had to be not only amusing and thrilling but also inspiring and informative, according to the editors of the Book.
