Meerut (Uttar Pradesh): Creativity at its best. A septuagenarian Surendra Jain hailing from Meerut district in Uttar Pradesh gave wings to his passion over a period of fifty years perfecting the art of building things using match sticks. Jain always took time off from his busy schedule to ideate on making Eiffel Tower. Since childhood days, among the Seven Wonders of the world, Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, always fascinated him.
To convert his dream into reality, Surendra even made a trip to Paris in 2013. He observed the architectural marvel for two days sitting at the base of the tower. Surendra was studying the intricate details of the tower, so that he could replicate it in his scaled down model image.
He succeeded in creating the Eiffel Tower replica with 75,000 matchsticks a decade after visiting the original marvel. Surendra, a resident of Partapur locality in Meerut city of Uttar Pradesh, is a trader by profession. He runs floor mills (wheat grinding machine) here.
Talking to ETV Bharat, Surendra said, "when I was pursuing my studies; my mother always advised me to do something different. Among the Seven Wonders, fascination for Eiffel Tower was always in my mind. In 2013, I made a trip to Paris to get the firsthand feel of the engineering marvel. I observed the tower for two days to understand its design and architecture."
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Overcoming health issues in 2019, Surendra was completely focused on his mission. His hands used to shake while working due to geriatric. Surendra claims to have taken to Yoga Asanas to minimise the hand tremors. Delving into the details of the project, Surendra said the task was challenging.
"Altogether 75,000 matchsticks were used to develop the replica. I had to protect the model from wind and dusty environment. Using adhesives to ensure perfect binding between the matchsticks was a bit challenging. A separate room for the project execution was set up," he said.
The original Eiffel Tower is 1100-feet tall and my replica is five feet in height. It was a long drawn process of work. The construction of the base of the tower was the most challenging one. It is perhaps the first model of its kind in the country. I would like to register my feat in India Book of Records, Limca Book of Records and Asia Book of Records as well, Surendra said.
