Test confirms 'sadhu' abstained food, water for 66 years Press Trust of India Ahmedabad, November 27>>       It's no fast-unto-death, it's no hunger strike. But a septuagenarian >sadhu's apparently simple decision to switch off food since the age of ten >after being "blessed by the Goddess" that has left scientists perplexed.>>       Prahllad Jani, the 76-year-old 'sadhu' from the pilgrim town of >Ambaji in north Gujarat, has scientifically proved that he neither ate nor >drank anything for the past 66 years.>>       Jani claims that he has managed to fight hunger and thirst after he >was blessed by "Mataji" (Ambaji deity) at the age of 10 years.>>       The medical fraternity did not believe it prima facie, but after a >close 10-day observation, including sonography twice a day, at the Neuro >ICCU of Sterling Hospital, medicos had to admit that Jani has the ability >to survive without food and water.>>       Hospital authorities confirmed that Jani not only refrained intake >through mouth or any other route but he also did not excrete, while under >observation.>>       "No doubt, his bladder produced 400 ml urine during the day, but the >next day it was absorbed by the bladder itself", Dinesh Desai, a doctor at >the Sterling Hospital said.>>       "Mataji blessed me at the age of 10 with energy in the form of >'Amrut' from my upper jaw to sustain me and since then I have never felt >the need for food nor water nor have I fallen ill," Jani claimed.>>       "I will continue to live like this till she commands," he added.>>       "Though no normal person can continue without passing stool or urine >for more than seven days, Jani is absolutely normal and shows the same >physiological process like any other person. He is fit and fine," Dr VN >Shah, a member of the Association of Physicians of Ahmedabad (APA), said.>>       The panel formed by APA, which took it upon itself to verify the >authenticity of Jani's claim to observe him included a physician, >cardiologist, neurologist, neurosurgeon, gastoenterologist, diabetologist >and an ENT surgeon.>>       The Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), New >Delhi would be conducting further research on him, Shah added.>>       Jani has now been discharged from the hospital but doctors intend to >keep a track of him as this could result into new findings.