Gujarat advocate wants her crowning glory in the Guinness Book

Gujarat advocate wants her crowning glory in the Guinness Book
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

AHMEDABAD, MARCH 2: Her crowning glory has just been crowned. Thirty-five-year-old Nipa Shah's tresses have won her a place in the Limca Book of Records. The five-feet-five-inch-tall Nipa has hair that trails to a length of seven feet (84 inches). What's more, her hair grows by about four inches each year. Nipa, an advocate, describes it as a ``a gift of God''.

Nipa says she had kept her hair very short till she was in Class V and started growing it only after that.

As for the lustre of her tresses, she ascribes that to heredity. ``My mother had lovely hair, as does my sister. I keep trimming it, but the growth is fast,'' she says, adding that having such hair has its ``advantages and disadvantages''.

``My tresses fetch me a lot of compliments. Everywhere I go, people's eyes follow my hair. Many women stop and ask me the secret of such long hair. I consider it God's gift,'' says Nipa.

The disadvantage, she says, is maintenance. ``If we have to go somewhere, I have to spend hours managing them. If I have to wash them, I get up early in the morning, wash my hair and then do all my other chores,'' she says, adding that she occasionally pampers her hair with a dose of lukewarm coconut oil and castor oil. She is careful to wash out all traces of oil a day later.

Nipa and her husband wrote to Limca last year. They got a reply in June and were asked for a certificate from an eminent person certifying the length of her hair. Former state Finance minister Maganbhai Barot certified the length and she is now featured in the Limca Book of Records. Next stop? The Guiness Book of World Records, she says. ``I will find out what is the present record and then grow my hair to cross that length,'' says a hopeful Nipa.