An elderly Indian man who drinks six glasses of milk per day to keep his 15 metres long hair in top condition has come out in public to reveal how his long hair once saved a drowning boy.

The man identified as Savjibhai Rathwa from an area called Vadodara has become a local attraction because of his lengthy tresses.

Rathwa says he had been visited by gods in his dreams who advised him not to cut his hair ever.

The 65-year-old Rathwa told news men that, “I was 12 when I got the swapnadesh (direction in a dream) from Lord Shiva that I should never cut my hair. It is since then I have been growing my hair.”

According to him, it takes 3 hours daily to wash his long hair which also requires 240ml of shampoo.

On saving the young boy’s life who fell into a pond, Rathwa boasted saying, “I almost intuitively started opening my dreadlock and even before someone could bring a rope, I hurled the loose end of my lock towards the drowning boy. Once he grabbed it, I started pulling it and slowly brought him to safety.

“Maybe I was destined to save this boy’s life using my dreadlock. Maybe this is why Lord Shiva had showed up in my dream asking me not to cut my hair some fifty years ago.

“I dedicate three hours every alternate day to wash my hair. Each wash takes 30 pouches (8ml each) of shampoo, just to ensure that my hair isn’t dirty and smelly. This burns a hole in my pocket, but I keep long hair for a hobby. It is my faith and it should be maintained at any cost.
‘I hate to keep my hair dirty and, luckily, I have my grandchildren to help me.’

Rathwa says a balanced diet rich in fruit, vegetable and nutrients are key to having his lengthy hair.

He says he has had women turning down his marriage proposals because of his hair but that never changed his decision to maintain a lengthy hair until he met a woman who did not care about his hair and later got married to her.

The title of ‘world’s longest hair’ previously belonged to Chinese man Xie Qiuping who boasted of 22ft-long locks before he passed away in 2010.

However Rathwa has not yet had his hair officially measured, because he has ‘no interest’ in finding out its exact length.