If you’re like most
people, breaking open a
coconut involves a tool of
some sort, perhaps a hammer
or cleaver. Smashing
the coconut with your bare
hands doesn’t seem like a
particularly wise thing to
do—especially if you don’t
have good health insurance.
But don’t tell that to Abheesh P. Dominic of
Kottayam, Kerala, who recently smashed his way into
the Guinness World Records by breaking open 122
coconuts within a minute with just his right hand. The
coconuts were laid out in a row and the big-armed
Dominic pummeled them at a pace of more than two
coconuts per second.
“I decided to break this record because I am from
a remote village and Guinness World Records is only a
dream for any one of us,” he said, according to the Guinness
website. “I am a man of strong determination and I
strongly believe in the willpower of human beings.”
Whether you believe in the willpower of humans
or not, smashing 122 coconuts in 60 seconds is an
incredible feat. Before Dominic came along, the world’s
foremost coconut-smasher was Muhamed Kahrimanovic
of Germany, who broke the record five times,
eventually reaching 118 coconuts in 2011.
You may be proud to learn that India holds another
coconut-smashing record: Most coconuts smashed
around a person, blindfolded, in one minute. Blindfolded
Kawaljit Singh used a hammer to smash 35 coconuts
that were placed around the body of Karamjit Singh,
who was lying down.
Please don’t try that at home—even if you have a
good health insurance plan.
Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge.
[Comments? Contributions? We would love to hear from you about Chai Time. If you have contributions, please email us at melvin@melvindurai.com. We welcome jokes, quotes, online clips, and more.]