World's smallest-man-in-waiting prepares to turn 18 (Feature)

By Pratibha Tuladhar Oct 8, 2010, 4:12 GMT

Pokhara, Nepal - Khagendra Thapa Magar puts his tiny hands together in the traditional Nepalese way and says 'namaste' to visitors, flashing a meek smile. His voice is barely audible.

Khagendra busies himself in his mother's little kitchen, set in a corner of a rented room, which serves as home for his family of four.

A mere 56.5 centimetres tall, Khagendra opens a low cupboard with some difficulty and removes a bowl of chopped radish, which he says he will steam for dinner.

'Khagen likes to cook,' says his mother Dhanmaya Thapa Magar. 'He cooks rice for himself on a low stove sometimes and always helps me chop vegetables.'

Khagendra is set to be declared the world's smallest man on October 14, when he turns 18, wresting the crown from Colombian Edward Nino Hernadez, the current official record-holder at 70 centimetres.

But his mother says that to her he's still a toddler who needs constant care and whom she has never left alone.

'When he was born, he fit in my palm,' she says. 'Bringing him into this world wasn't difficult but bringing him up has been very painful.'

The fragile Khagendra grew by a few centimetres a year until he turned 11, when he stopped growing, and his weight stabilized at 4.5 kilograms.

Until four years ago, he could stand straight. Now, he stoops a little from constricted growth on the right side of his body.

Clad in clothes meant for a 2-year-old and a pair of custom-made 10-centimetre shoes given him by the Guinness World Records organization, Khagendra beams as his family members discuss his upcoming birthday.

He flings open both his arms and says, 'I'm going to have a big birthday this time!'

Khagendra, who was born in western Nepal in Baglung district, has been living in Pokhara valley, 200 kilometres west of the capital Kathmandu, since 2006.

He was admitted to the kindergarten in the local Saraswati Boarding School last year, where he learnt to write his name.

'I only go to school to sit down,' Khagendra says as he bites into his chocolate pie and wipes his mouth with a handkerchief. His mother explains he has difficulty mixing with the other students so he spends a lot of time in the care of his teachers.

He says the happiest time in his life was when he met He Pingping from China, the former smallest man in the world, and Indian Joyti Amage, the smallest girl in the world, at an event in Italy organized by Euro Television in early 2010.

'The three rattled off in three different languages as soon as they met,' laughs Min Bahadur Thapa, chairman of the Khagendra Thapa Magar Foundation, which raises money for Khagendra and his family.

'It was as if they have so much to share and couldn't stop talking to each other. They were like kindred spirits,' he says.

In his rented room back in Pokhara, Khagendra's life revolves around going to school, helping his mother in the kitchen, doing his schoolwork and playing with his family.

'Dai (the Nepalese word for elder brother) throws things at me when he gets really angry and doesn't get to play his favourite games,' says his 14-year-old younger brother Mahesh. 'Otherwise, we get along really well.'

Khagendra is very playful and sociable once he gets used to his visitors.

'He was very shy at first and hated being photographed,' says his mother. 'But he's not very scared of meeting people now.'

Khagendra's next trick is to kick an empty, jumbo Sprite bottle at a bed while his uncle plays goalkeeper. He then drops the game to pick up a badminton racket and swipe at a shuttlecock.

Almost 18, Khagendra is a quiet boy. But he loves to sing and dance along to traditional Nepalese music. Every morning he offers prayers to the Buddha.

Khagendra was recently made a goodwill ambassador by the government for the upcoming Tourism Year of 2011, a title he shares with this year's Miss Nepal, Sadikshya Shrestha.

He says the reigning beauty queen has replaced his former crush, film star Rekha Thapa, in his affections. The two goodwill ambassadors may be travelling together to China on a promotional trip, which Khagendra says he is looking forward to.

'But Joyti is still my friend far away,' he says.

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