Khagendra Thapa Magar

Shortest and Lightest Human Found in Nepal

August 28 2006 at 11:02AM  Kathmandu - Nepal has the shortest and lightest human being, a newspaper report said on Monday. Khagendra Thapa Magar, 14, has been registered as the world's shortest and lightest human being by Guinness Book of World Records, the English language daily Himalayan Times reported. According to the newspaper, Thapa Magar is just 50,8cm tall and weighs 10kg. According to Min Bahadur Rana who heads the Thapa Magar Academy, the Guinness Book of World Records registered Thapa Magar as the world's shortest and lightest person. Rana said, "The Guinness Book people sent us information that Khagendra contested for the title with Jordan's Yoyansvans, who is 67,7cm tall and weighed 10kg, but Khagendra came out as the winner." Necessary medical reports pertaining to Thapa Magar were sent to the Guinness Book of World Records, according to Rana. Thapa Magar was born to Rup Bahadur Thapa Magar and Dhan Maya Thapa Magar in 1992 in Baglung district, about 220km west of the capital. Khagendra's birth was initially an embarrassment for the family and they tried to hide him from public, his father said. Khagendra began to move around only when he was eight years old and his physical growth completely stopped at the age of 11, his mother Dhan Maya said. The Thapa Magars are presently organising programmes to exhibit the boy and raise funds for him and the family. According to his father, the son relieved him of debt and brought the family happiness and prosperity. - Sapa-dpa

Khagendra Thapa Magar, 14, dances, as his mother Dhana Maya Thapa Magar looks on, in Baglung village, 270 kilometers (169 miles) west of Katmandu, Nepal, Monday, April 17, 2006. Magar, who is only 20 inches (50 centimeters) tall and weighs 4.5 kilograms (10 pounds), is waiting for word from the Guinness World Records, where he has applied to be named the shortest in the world, his supporters said on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2006. (AP Photo/Prakash Mathema)

Author's Note:  Khagendra's life story is a common one in the history of the side show = child is born abnormally developed in some way; parents are ashamed at first; parents come to realize that the child can be exhibited for profit - thus turning a negative into a positive.

By featuring these people on this site the author intends no disrespect. Genetics and lack of  medical care still cause oddities to exist even to this day.

SHER  ALI  SHAH

ADORAR AL SANTO ... POR LA BARBA

A este niño de Chittagon (Bangladesh), llamado Sher Ali Shah, le ha salido pelo por toda la cara y todo el cuerpo, a sus ocho años de edad. Al parecer, y en vista del caso, sus padres - y algunos vecinos - le han declarado "santo", y para poder verlo, hay que colaborar con alguna pequeña cantidad de dinero.  Se dice que son muchos los peregrinos que han comemzado a llegar a Chittagon.  Es lo que se dice ... adorar al santo ... por la barba. (Otros lo hacen por la peana)

Author's Note: Ali Shah was declared a "saint" and townspeople paid to see him.  This is reminiscent of the "Hairy Family of Mandalay" who also had hypertrichosis and were exhibited not as "freaks" but as sacred people.

THE  OSTRICH  PEOPLE

"Sharing this knowledge and love of the wilds is a little known tribe called Vadoma (singular - Mudoma) found in the Urungwe and Sipolilo districts.  They prefer to stay in the rugged fastness of the Zambesi escarpment living off the land and fleeing at the sight of any intruder.  The present government is trying its best to assimilate them into civilised society by providing schools and clinics but they have yet to be convinced that they are to their advantage.  Some of the Vadoma have a most unusual deformity of the feet and from this comes the tale of a "two-toed tribe".  There is no truth in this as only a few (usually related) individuals suffer from this genetic inheritance, which has deprived them of the middle three toes leaving a foot looking more like that of an ostrich than that of a human.  The deformity does not handicap them in any way, and it is said that it assists them in climbing trees." from "Those Were The Days" by Trevor Hemans.  A record of his experiences as a District Commissioner in Rhodesia and Zimbabwe, 1946 - 81

This photo is from the British periodical "Bizarre".  Keith's condition reminded me of  Rocky Dennis who was said to have suffered from craniodiaphyseal dysplasia.  Rocky died at age 16 and a movie was made of his brief life.  "Mask" (1985) starred Cher as Rocky's mom "Rusty" and Eric Stoltz as "Rocky".

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