Around the world in three days

Dr Ali Irani and Sujoy Mitra are the new flying ambassadors for India having traversed seven continents in a record time

They call themselves “passionate travellers.” It could mean exploring different countries and rare tourist attractions and also crisscrossing the seven continents in record time. Ali Irani and Sujoy Kumar Mitra have achieved this fantastic feat in three days, one hour, five minutes and four seconds.

The previous best, according to the Guinness World Records, was three days, 14 hours, 46 minutes, 48 seconds by Dr Khawla AlRomaithu from United Arab Emirates (UAE). Her record ended in Sydney on 13 February, 2020. Irani and Mitra’s journey culminated in Melbourne on December 7, 2022.

The seven continents covered by Irani and Mitra are Antarctica, Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Oceania. Irani, a well-known physiotherapist based in Mumbai, was attached with the Indian cricket team from 1987 to 1997.

Mitra is a chemical engineer. “I gave up my job in 2014 and decided to chase my dream of traveling. I have been to 172 nations and plan to achieve the target of 198 in the next three months,” said Mitra, who has been managing Irani’s travel.

Irani was popular with the Indian cricketers during his days with the team and continued to treat them at his clinic in Nanavati Hospital. “I loved exploring the countries we visited on tour. I would pull some players with me and they also developed an interest in learning the local history. On off-days or after training for the day, I went around the city to study local culture and history. It was fun and later became a hobby. I would create the space for my travel.” Irani has set foot in 90 countries so far.

Travelling with Irani was a learning process for the 39-year-old Mitra. “His discipline and enthusiasm is incredible. He did not miss his prayers and attended all his phone calls whenever he could. Nothing perturbed him and we overcame so many hurdles. We had to be fit and punctual to go through this daunting journey and thanks to him it was such a breeze.”

Irani believes records are meant to be broken. “The lady from UAE had announced she had done it for the nation. I also thought why I can’t also do something that would make us all proud. I spoke with Mitra and we were on our way to do something unique.”