Thiruvananthapuram: Theresa and Agnes, daughters of Joy K Mathew and Jacqueline who have settled in Melbourne of Australia, are all to set bag a world record. The girls hailing from Alappuzha will sing the national anthems of 193 countries recognised by the United Nations in their respective languages at St John's Cathedral Hall in Brisbane City for six consecutive hours from 9.30 am on World Peace Day, which falls on September 21. 

The presentation is part of the United Nations 'Salute the Nation' programme. Theresa, a graduate student in criminal psychology in Australia, and her younger sister Agnes, a 12th-grade student, set out on this mission after years of research and study. They have learned from the oldest and smallest national anthem of Japan to the national anthem of South Sudan which was released in 2012. 

They say the most intense lines are in the national anthem of Algeria, which was written by the imprisoned poet Moufdi Zakaria, who cut his own finger and wrote with his blood. The calmest national anthem is that of Israel. They have studied the anthems by paying fees to many musicians from different countries.

UN officials and the URF World Record Jury members will be witnessing the performance. The sisters are of the opinion that there is nothing more beautiful than the national anthem of India.