He's the man with an iron head

Bhubaneswar: To break a green coconut one has to definitely look out for an instrument to do so. But 35 year-old-Keshab Swain of Bhubaneswar can break coconuts on his head again and again until one believes his eyes.

Keshab claims that he can break as many as hundred green coconuts with his head in just one hour.

Breaking the coconuts with hands or legs or peeling it off with his teeth is like demanding too little from him. Keshab says these stunts require immense practice, physical power and concentration to hit at the right place in perfect timing otherwise it might prove fatal.

"To gain this power I eat many raw green vegetables, which give me strength. Otherwise this stunt is very difficult to do,” he says.

Keshab has an interesting story on how and why he learnt this stunt. At teenage Keshab ran away from his house and accidentally reached Goa. With no money with him, when he felt hungry, he picked some green coconuts from the tree near the beaches in Goa and tried to break them but he could not.

Coincidentally he saw some martial art training given near the beach and he tried to apply this technique on the coconuts, which ultimately led him to break it with his hands. Later he trained himself to break it with his head. Now Keshab has become popular in Bhubaneswar and his stunts continue to amuse many.

"It is difficult to even peel off green coconuts with a sharp instrument; I am so surprised to see how he breaks it with his head,” says a tourist, Kiran Desai.

Though Keshab's stunts amuse many he finds it difficult to continue with these stunts for lack of money. Keshab earns a living as a fight director in Oriya dramas, but he does not earn enough from that to realize his dream of entering his name into Guinness Book of World Record. But his wife continues to support him to realise this dangerous dream.

"I first came to know of these stunts of his after our marriage. But I never felt afraid for my husband because I know he knows his job the best,” Keshab's wife, Pratima Swain says.

But Keshab has a word of caution for the others - never try this at home because it took him 16 long years to master the stunt.