An Uttar Pradesh man is garnering attention for his 35-foot-long moustache. He said he abandoned his children to keep it pristine. Ramesh Chand Kushwah, 80, is from Agra. He saw a man with an extremely long moustache in a book 20 years ago, which inspired him to grow an extra-long moustache of his own. This meant he would no longer see his daughter and grandchildren “in case they cut off his moustache.” Ramesh spoke to Local18. He said, “It took me a long time to learn how to care for my hair to make it grow. Now I take very good care of it. I have a daughter, but I don’t live with her because otherwise my moustache would be in danger. Her children could pull it out or damage it in some way, and that would be devastating for me.”
When Ramesh started growing a moustache about 35 years ago, he had just lost his wife. He said he decided to do it since he no longer had his wife by his side.
“My moustache became my passion,” he added. “I stopped trimming my moustache but it was hard to keep it strong so I asked people for advice. I was told to use milk, curd, butter and cream to keep it strong and that really helped.”
Ramesh also keeps his moustache tied in a ball on top of his head so that it doesn’t come near anything that could damage it. He said, “When I started growing it, it used to break a lot but luckily it has been unharmed since then.”
It is clear that Ramesh uses cotton threads at the end of his moustache to keep it extra strong.
Ramesh is now known as the ‘Moustache Man’ in Agra, and both locals and foreigners holidaying there like to visit him at his milk shop and have their picture taken with him and his snow-white moustache.
“People often ask me if it’s real,” he says. “Foreigners love me and want to touch it, but I never let them touch it”, he added.
“Last year I was at the Taj Mahal and the foreigners were more interested in me and my moustache than the Taj Mahal. They started taking pictures with me instead of the Taj Mahal. I was happy because I felt I was different. I think my moustache inspires people. I have seen many people grow their moustaches after seeing mine”, he said.
Ramesh’s fame and popularity come at a price. Ramesh, who earns just Rs 100 rupees a day from his milk shop, has not seen his daughter and grandchildren for many years because he feared they would destroy his fragile moustache.
He added: “I have relatives. I have a daughter and grandchildren, but I don’t want to live with them or visit them because that would endanger my moustaches.” Ramesh describes himself as a simple man who has no desires in life.
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