By Hemant Kumar Rout, IANS
Balasore (Orissa) : As his moustache drew more crowd than the vegetables he sold, he had to give up vending vegetables in the village market. Now the youth is preparing to set a world record by doing amazing feats with his two-foot-long moustache.
Siba Prasad Mallick, a 34-year-old resident of Villa village in Balasore district, used to run a vegetable shop but gave it up to devote more time to pulling vehicles using his moustache.
“I want to see my name registered in the Guinness Book of World Records. I must do what it really requires. I will continue my mission till I achieve the milestone. I will keep practising regularly,” said Mallick, who now ekes out a living as a daily wage labourer.
He celebrated India’s 60th Independence Day in a unique way. He tied a tricolour band around his head and pulled two bikes for two kilometres using his moustache.
“On July 5, I first started by pulling a cycle. Four days later, I pulled a bike and now I pulled two bikes. I never experienced pain while pulling the vehicles,” he said.
Mallick began growing a moustache seven years ago .
“I used to act as the female lead in village plays so I never sported a moustache. I have acted in at least 400 dramas. I stopped acting just seven years ago and began growing my moustache,” he said.
He added that he only uses mustard oil to keep his moustache long and strong.
Mallick has become a local celebrity because of his nearly two-foot-long moustache and his vehicle-pulling feats. But his wife Parvati is not amused.
“Can the moustache give us a square meal every day? He was earning something from the vegetable shop. Now it has all gone for the moustache,” she said.
The couple has four children and Mallick’s mother also lives with them in their hut.
On Wednesday, the local Tehasildar donated five decimals of land (100 decimals are equal to one acre) to Mallick.
The local association of bus and truck operators has also decided to support him by not charging him any money for travelling in the area.
Mallick has declared that he will pull a Maruti car on the occasion of Republic Day on Jan 26, 2008. He hopes that by Aug 15, 2008, he will be able to pull a truck with his moustache and set a record.