Article from the Wall Street Journal:
‘Most visitors to Antarctica go to see the penguins and the glaciers. Ashrita Furman went to hop on a pogo stick…It was just another day in the life of Mr. Furman, who holds the ultimate Guinness world record: The record for Guinness world records.’
Read full article on Wall Street Journal site…
Okay, I’m as open minded as the next orangutan but, if you ask me, the human currently skipping around the Safari Park is a few bananas short of a bunch – if you know what I mean. Let’s face it, humans walk weird enough as it is – using only two legs instead of on going all fours. But on top of that, this maniac is doing some awkward movement that my trainer calls "skipping". For God’s sake, it’s 85 degrees outside and the humidity is off the charts. What would possess anyone to do something like this? And, what’s more, he’s making this loud grunting noise. You would think he’s being chased by a bunch of hyenas or something. On second thought, he kind of sounds like a hyena with indigestion!
The fact is that, from what my trainer tells me, humans and orangutans have 97% of the same DNA. Ah, but what a difference that 3% makes. Humans are pathetically weak, their arms are way too short and the lack of dexterity of their feet is shocking. And, to make things worse, they put coverings on their feet so they can’t practice picking things up with their toes even if they wanted to. And what is the story with how they make funny shapes with the hair on their heads?
Don’t get me wrong – I like humans in general, although some do smell fairly horrible. Of course, there are some really bad humans who still kidnap baby orangutans and try to sell them on the black market. In fact, that’s how I ended up in this Safari Park. Two of those mean people went to our rainforest in Borneo, shot my mother and, when they saw that she could no longer protect us, they chased after us. We were terrified. Once they caught us, they threw us in a crate and took us for a long ride. I don’t remember much after that but, fortunately, I was rescued and ended up in this Bali Safari Park.
We were in trouble. It was a beautiful day in May and Bipin and I were in Budapest, Hungary. In 10 minutes we were to attempt Guinness record for raw egg catching in front of thousands of kids. The guidelines for the record were quite simple. Two people stand 16 feet apart and one person throws raw eggs at the other person who tries to catch as many of the eggs in a minute without breaking them. The current record was 71 eggs and Bipin and I had done more than that in practice in New York, so we thought it would be “over-easy”. But our confidence was “cracked” when, just before going on stage to make our attempt, we did a trial run. Bipin was throwing the eggs as normal but, for some reason, when I tried to catch the eggs, they exploded in my hands, and I was being “shelled” by raw eggs!
We tried using different batches of eggs, but the results were the same. For some reason, Hungarian eggs are not as strong as American eggs and, in front of national TV and a few thousand kids, I was about to get egg on my face, literally! I remembered that my mentor, Sri Chinmoy, taught me that through meditation it is possible to surmount any problem. After a brief meditation, an idea popped into my head. I ran over to Parimal (one of my Hungarian friends) and asked if he could find us a couple of hundred organic eggs in a hurry! I hoped that organic eggs might have stronger shells.
With these eggs though, Bipin and I had the horrible feeling that we were “poached”. We climbed up on stage and took our positions. Looking out at the enormous parking lot in front of us, we could see the expectant look on the kids’ faces—thousands of ‘em.
There is something about standing on a ball and balancing that gives me joy. I don’t know why – maybe it’s the challenge or maybe it’s because it’s so cosmic and looks so cool. Balancing on a ball, to me, is a form of performance art. In fact, several years ago, while looking for a venue to break the record for the longest time standing on a Swiss Ball (the large, rubber air-filled exercise balls found in gyms), I approached the Museum of Modern Art here in New York City. I suggested that I might be dressed all in red and balance on a bright yellow ball on the sidewalk outside the museum. They didn’t take my idea seriously, but I still can’t understand why!
Anyway, a few months ago, I discovered that Guinness had created a new category for standing on a different kind of ball – a rolling globe – and I was intrigued. A rolling globe is a hard plastic ball often seen in the circus with performers balancing on them while slowly making their way up and down ramps. I figured that balancing on a globe would be easy since, unlike a Swiss Ball, it is stable. I ordered a 24-inch rolling globe from a circus supply company and, when it arrived, I was in for a rude awakening. I guess the rolling part of “rolling globe” is there for a reason! I could only stay balanced on the ball for a few minutes and discovered that, besides being a workout for the quads and abs, it is torture on the arches of the feet!
One of the many things I love about the Guinness Book of Records is that I can almost always find some new event I have never seen or heard of before, and this inspires me into new frontiers of exercise. I’ve derived hours of fitness training and fun from such discoveries as star jumping, orange nose-pushing, frog-jumping, can and string-walking and upside-down juggling. 
It is truly a joy practicing new events and experiencing my progress from day-to-day and week-to-week. As my meditation teacher, Sri Chinmoy, says:
When my heart sings the song of newness,
My life becomes the dance of fullness.
Recently, the Guinness people began posting a database of records on their website, and it has been a goldmine of inspiration for me. Okay…some of the new categories are silly – like the record for the fastest time to blow a postage stamp for 100 meters. Other categories sound silly, but are actually quite difficult– like the record for jumping the longest distance on a pogo stick while juggling 3 balls. This seemed tailor made for me so I decided that I would try to break it, and I wanted to do it on Easter Island!
It has long been a dream of mine to visit Easter Island, but finding the time to go has been a challenge. Part of the mystique of Easter Island (called Rapa Nui by the natives) is the fact that it is so hard to get to. The island is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, 2200 miles off the coast of Chile and is the most isolated inhabited spot in the world. For most of my record-excursions, I plan on 3 or 4 days including travel time, but Rapa Nui required double that. This year, my annual Christmas retreat this year took me to Columbia, South America, and this 3 week sabbatical afforded me the opportunity to make a side-trip to this remote island.
