The event, which was part of India International Science Festival, was organised by the Ministry of Science and Technology.
How do you pack 2000 students into a single science class and yet make sure they don't complain? Answer: You tell them, that one lesson will send their names to the Guinness Book of World Records.
That's exactly what happened at Indian Institute of Technology lawns this morning.
Dressed in white lab coats, these students streamed into a giant tent pitched by the administrative block at IIT-Delhi to attempt a new world record for the highest number of students to conduct an experiment simultaneously, at the same venue. Ireland holds the previous record of around 1,300 students conducting an experiment at the same venue.
Two cabinet ministers of the government were also present. Union Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan, and Union HRD Minister, Smriti Irani, spoke with them ahead of the session.
Ms Irani promised a practical lesson soon with 10 times the number of students. "We can have it in conjunction with the same team that did this programme today and have over 20,000 students participating," she said.
After the speeches, the students collected numbered wristbands, displayed them for a camera while entering the makeshift classroom and took their seats at tables kitted out with graduated cylinders, tissue paper, gloves, droppers and other equipment.
Together they turned methylene blue solution "reddish-brown" and rapidly decomposed hydrogen peroxide to produce foamy ropes at all their tables.
The video recording and a report on the experiment will now be sent to the Guinness Book who will decide whether the attempt was a success. The event was organized by Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA), an NGO, as part of the five-day India International Science Festival (IISF) at IIT being organised by the government.