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This Indian villager is addicted to eating bricks,
gravel and mud, stomaching at least three kilos of his surroundings
every day.
Pakkirappa Hunagundi, 30, first developed a taste for the seemingly
inedible objects at the age of ten.
Ever since, he has snacked on walls and streets of Karnataka, India -
and claims to suffer no ill effects.
The bizarre eating disorder is thought to be a form of Pica, an illness
which gives sufferers an appetite for substances without any nutritional
value.
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Sporting a full set of normal-looking teeth, Mr Hunagundi blasts any
suggestion he should curb the addiction.
He said: 'I have been eating bricks and rocks for around 20 years now. I
love eating them. It has become a part of my life.
'I started at the age of 10. Now it feels like a necessity to me. I can
skip meals, but not bricks or mud.
'I have suffered no side effects. My teeth are absolutely fine. I can
bite into the hardest stone without a problem.'
His mother has spent 20 years trying to dissuade her son from eating
away parts of their house and village.
But Mr Hunagundi says the the building material tastes 'A1' - an Indian
term for the best.
Branding it better than 'divine nectar', he says it is best served with
a glass of water.
He said: 'Other than bricks, mud and stones, I don't like anything else.
Even if you offer me divine nectar, I won't take it.
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'My mother says don't eat all this. She keeps insisting, but even if she
gives me chicken fry, I don't eat it. I don't like that at all.
'I need mud and bricks to eat. I can't help my own habit.'
One villager said: 'I have known him since childhood. He has always
eaten mud and stones since then.
'Even a tiny stone in the mouth hurts so much. But he eats mud and
stones everyday with so much ease. We find it extremely strange.'
After news of his brick eating spread, Mr Hunagundi has been inundated
with people wanting to watch him going about his everyday activity.
One friend said: 'He has become very famous, but he is a poor man. We
wish someone would help him.
'When we see him, we feel very bad. We have tried to convince him many
times, but he does not listen. We have given up now.
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'We advise him not to eat. But when he comes to our field, he goes
around eating mud. He relishes hot charcoal too like a snack.'
Mr Hunagundi, who works as a labourer in his village and struggles to
make ends meet, now intends to travel the country to showcase his act.
He said: 'My father died four years ago. I have to take care of my
mother. We don't have any income. So I want to make use of my talent.
'I want to show people what I can do. I want to earn some money.' |
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