Surviving without food or water

I took a quick break from revision in the library, logged onto the computer where I found an article on a news website, titled “'Starving yogi' astounds Indian scientists”, I don’t know if you have already seen this article, but I urge you to have a quick read.

Prahlad Jani, an 83-year-old Indian man claimed he has spent seventy years without food or water. At first, I thought this was just ridiculous and damn right silly. How could one survive for that long, without food or water and still be alive? Is there something, the science world hasn’t yet discovered in regards to food and the body? Is this a classic case of mind over matter? These are the questions that bothered me whilst reading this article.

I turned to one of my most trusted friends, Google; here I found a picture of this self confessed yogi, he looked surprisingly healthy for his age. Mr Jani claims he was blessed by a goddess when he was younger, which gave him special powers.

Prahlad Jani spent a fortnight in a hospital in the western India state of Gujarat under constant surveillance from a team of 30 medics equipped with cameras and closed circuit television. During the period, he neither ate nor drank and did not go to the toilet. His only contact with any kind of fluid was gargling and bathing periodically during the period.

The long-haired and bearded yogi was sealed in a hospital in the city of Ahmedabad in a study initiated by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the state defence and military research institute.

I am really excited about the outcome of this study being carried out by the DRDO, which they claim will be released in greater detail in several months. This can potentially save the lives of people trapped in natural disasters and even help soldiers survive without food or drink.