Re: Backpacking Info: How Long Can a Guy Go without a Bath, Important Benchmark Established

Full Story at http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/12/2568402.htm

Indian dad avoids washing for 35 years: report

Posted Tue May 12, 2009 5:37pm AEST
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, newspapers reported.
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, according to the Hindustan Times.
"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 in Saturday's edition of the paper.
"I just know it started about 35 years ago."
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."
"I'll end this vow only when all problems confronting the nation end," he said.
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 told the paper.
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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan

Well I know how long a woman can go without a shower! About 6 days.
After that time has elapsed then you better not say 'boo', say 'daylights burning',
say 'it's only another 1/4 mile and 100ft. up to the really great spot', or
... aw, heck, just shut up stupid... cause you're living on borrowed time...

My favorite part...the newspaper called the "Hindustan Times".