Chennai: Can eating insects and worms come handy? Well, it has for S Nandhakumar (30), a resident of EB Colony, Adambakkam. This strange talent of his won him a title of “most number of cockroaches eaten by an individual (male)”.
A mechanic by profession, he has eaten cockroaches, earthworms and millipedes a number of times even on television shows, and on several occasions he even let a snake bite him to show that his body is immune to poison.
News Today met with the daredevil for a chat, “It is not tasty at all,” he clarifies. So, when did the mania start? “I ate a cockroach when I was in class seven. I was around 12 years of age and didn’t talk about it to anyone.”
But he did it again to irritate his friends. Although he started eating insects to freak out his friends and family, gradually he was tempted to eat them whenever he saw one, he admits. “My friends and family have both encouraged and criticised me.”
As years went by, he began using the unique ‘talent’ to get some fame. “I began to do the act on televisions in 2009. This encouraged me to create a record. I attempted a world record organised by Elite in Coimbatore. I ate 28 cockroaches in 38 seconds.”
Thus, he achieved the record of “Most Number of Cockroaches Eaten by an Individual (Male)”.
So does these stunts have an adverse effect on his health? “Yes. Once I ate several insects at the same time and was poisoned. My blood pressure had shot up and I was hospitalised in a very critical condition.”
So what’s next for him? Nandhakumar said he has stopped making snakes bite him as his family is worried for him. But when he sees an insect, he cannot hold back from eating it, he quips. “I wish to set more records and even a Guinness in the future!”