- AHMEDABAD (AFP) -- An Indian
man who claims divine inspiration says he has survived 68 years without
eating, drinking or relieving himself, baffling doctors who are unable
to prove him an imposter.
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- Prahlad Jani, a 76-year-old whose extraordinary tale
has won him a small band of devotees, took a dare and underwent round-the-clock
surveillance at a hospital in Ahmedabad, the commercial capital of the
western state of Gujarat.
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- Clad in his trademark red sari, bangles and earrings
meant to fashion Hindu goddesses, Jani managed to puzzle the Sterling Hospital's
400 doctors.
-
- Neurologist Sudhir Shah said Jani was under watch for
10 days, with a closed-circuit camera running, and that doctors were convinced
he did not break any of his vows, although there was no way of verifying
whether Jani has pulled it off for 68 years.
-
- "He has evidence of the formation of urine, which
was reabsorbed on his bladder wall. The medical committee does not have
any scientific explanation," Shah said.
-
- Jani offered an explanation. He said he has been blessed
and heard his calling when he was eight years old.
-
- "I get the elixir of life from the hole in my palate,
which enables me to go without food and water," Jani explained to
AFP.
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- A vindicated Jani left the hospital and said he was retreating
to a cave at Mount Abu in the neighboring desert state of Rajasthan.
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- Another doctor, Dinesh Desai, said the hospital hoped
to test Jani again to verify his claim of a hole in the palate between
his mouth and nose.
-
- "We may get some answers then," Desai said.
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- Shah said it took the hospital more than a year to persuade
Jani to undergo surveillance.
-
- He said he wanted the ascetic to undergo experiments
at NASA, as Jani's supposed feat could come in handy for astronauts.
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- © Herald and Weekly Times
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- http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_
page/0,5478,7960637%255E401,00.html
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