by reciprocal arrangement with Star of Mysore

Mysore, Mar 21: Bulbs and tubelights are his food. Pesticides and insecticides are his soft drinks. He craves for a snake-bite. He hardly sleeps for two hours a day and loves the company of wild animals !

Incredible but true. The person is L. Basavaraj popularly known as Poison Basava. The 23-year-old youth hails from Bangalore and a diploma holder in electronics. Now residing in Agrahara here, he services electronic equipments for a living. His penchant for unusual feats is drawing crowd daily.

Basavaraj is not particular about regular food. He is satisfied if he could lay his hand on few bulbs and tubelights. It is learnt, he has not eaten regular food for weeks.

Family Background

Basavaraj is not poor. He is the only son of his father who owns chains of travel agencies in Bangalore. When Basavaraj completed his diploma in electronics, his parents were rejoicing but fate drew him to Vagabondism.

The Beginning

About four years ago, when Basavaraj was studying diploma, a friend of his allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison following a failed love affair.

Basavavaraj had an insatiable desire to achieve something and get into the Guinness book. His friends used to challenge him to consume poison.

Carried away by his friends' words, Basavaraj while alone, once consumed few sips of an insecticide. He reportedly went to coma for three months but that did not deter him.

Snakes Die

Later, he started consuming few drops of insecticide frequently and got used to it. That followed with snake-bites. It is said, Venomous snakes themselves die after biting Basavaraj.

As per doctors who examined him, he has 92 per cent of venom in his body.

However, many doctors predict, Basavaraj will not survive beyond another four months if he continues with his pranks. The irony is Basavaraj is hell-bent on achieving a Guinness record at the cost of his life.

Basavaraj claims that he had spent some time in the company of tiger and other wild animals in Bandipur National Park.

He is sad, no one is funding him for his feats. If someone sponsors, he is prepared to stay for 120 days in the company of venomous snakes, said Basavaraj speaking to Star of Mysore.