Indian man has not bathed or brushed his teeth for 35 years

An Indian man who fathered seven daughters has not washed for 35 years in an apparent attempt to ensure his next child is a boy.

Kailash "Kalau" Singh replaces bathing and brushing his teeth with a "fire bath" every evening when he stands on one leg beside a bonfire, smokes marijuana and says prayers to Lord Shiva. It's just like using water to take a bath," Kalau was reported as saying. "A fire bath helps kill germs and infection in the body."

Kalau, 63, from a village outside the holy city of Varanasi, outraged his family by refusing to take a ritual dip in the river Ganges even after his brother died five years ago. "I still don't remember how it all began," he said. "I just know it started about 35 years ago."


Photo from here.

Kalau's hygiene regime has taken its toll on his professional life. The grocery store that he used to own closed when customers stopped shopping there due to his "unhealthy personality" and he now tills fields near Varanasi airport.

Kalau, who wears two pullovers all through the Indian summer, said his pledge not to wash was a commitment to the "national interest."

But his neighbours in the village of Chatav said there was another reason for Kalau's washing boycott. "A seer once told Kalau that if he does not take a bath, he would be blessed with a male child," a man called Madhusudan said.