Solar-powered man

2003-02-09 09:04

New Delhi - Forget those fad diets and low-fat foods. If you want to control hunger pangs, just stare at the sun. That's the advice of a 65-year-old Indian man who claims he has not eaten solid food since 1995.

Hira Ratan Manek, a mechanical engineer from the southern Indian state of Kerala, said all he needs to survive is solar energy, the Asian Age newspaper reported on Sunday.

The newspaper quoted him as saying, "Solar energy absorbed through the eyes eliminates mental illness, physical illness, spiritual ignorance and makes life happy and peaceful."

While Manek said he hadn't eaten "solid foods", he didn't reveal what "liquid foods" he had been having in order to survive, leaving room for speculation about his claims.

"Anyone can do it. You don't have to fast or change your lifestyle. All the changes happen as a result of sun gazing," Manek told the newspaper.

Manek claimed the secret to success lies in the amount of solar energy absorbed by the pineal gland, a small structure at the base of the brain. While some doctors say this gland has no known function, there is a large group of believers who claim it has certain mystical properties.

Manek said he recently ended a 411-day fast. While his claims have not been verified by any doctor, he told the Asian Age he is getting ready to leave for the United States, where a team of doctors and scientists from the National Aeronautic and Space Administration will apparently supervise a 130-day fast. - Sapa-DPA

- SAPA