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World records are a mixed bag; they often range from inspiring to just plain bizarre. Shridhar Chillal, an 82-year-old man from Pune, India, holds a world record that falls squarely into the latter category.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Chillal has "the longest fingernails ever recorded on a single hand." He has been growing the fingernails on his left hand since 1952. According to Chillal, he began growing out his fingernails when, at the age of 14, he accidentally broke his teacher's long pinky nail. The teacher told him that he didn't understand the gravity of his mistake because he lacked commitment, even to something as seemingly insignificant as growing his fingernails. In order to prove a point, from that day onward, Chillal stopped cutting the nails on his left hand altogether.
Sixty-six years and one world record later, Chillal has finally decided to cut his nails. He traveled to New York City in order to cut and sell them to Ripley's Believe It or Not!, which plans to put the 31-foot nails on permanent display in their NYC gallery.
The lifelong stunt has reportedly left Chillal's left hand swollen and permanently handicapped.
