Nepal man, 72, hoping to be named world’s shortest

Guinness World Records officials will arrive in Nepal this weekend to measure a 72-year-old man who says he’s only 22 inches (56 centimeters) tall and hopes to be declared the world’s shortest man. Chandra Bahadur Dangi is hoping to snatch the title of world’s shortest man from Junrey Balawing of the Philippines, who is 23.5 inches (60 centimeters) tall.
Guinness World Records said in an email Wednesday that the officials would arrive in Nepal’s capital, Katmandu, on Sunday to measure Dangi.
Dangi, who is from western Nepal, arrived in Katmandu by airplane on Wednesday.
“I am very happy to be in Katmandu for the first time in my life. I am here so I can take the Guinness title,” Dangi told reporters at Katmandu’s airport.
Dangi — who is about the size of a toddler — said it was his first trip outside his mountain village. It was also his first trip on a plane.
Dangi, who has never been married, lives with his eldest brother and his family in Rhimkholi village, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) west of Katmandu. Because of his height, he has never worked outside the house, doing only household chores. He has five brothers, all of average size.
His family is not sure when he stopped growing, and Dangi said he has never been checked by a medical doctor. He attended a few classes in the village school, but soon dropped out.
Dangi has a diet of mainly rice and vegetables, and occasionally eats meat products, but in small portions.
Since Dangi’s village is in a remote mountainous area, it was only recently that a forest contractor cutting timber in the village discovered him. The contractor and the family measured Dangi, and when they found out he was just 22 inches tall, the contractor informed local media of Dangi’s story.
Dangi’s nephew Dolak Dangi said that before the contractor’s visit, the family did not know his uncle’s exact height, and that he was shorter than the world’s shortest man.
Another Nepalese man, Khagendra Thapa Magar, was known as the world’s shortest man, at 26.4 inches (67 centimeters), before Balawing took over the title on his 18th birthday in June.
Aside from a Guinness certificate, the crown of world’s shortest man does not come with any cash award.

AP