The Wisdom of Pulling a Bus With Your Hair

(Nov. 13) -- I had two questions for Manjit Singh, a day after he pulled an 8.5-ton double-decker bus for nearly 70 feet with his hair:

Did you shampoo today? And are you out of your mind?

"Yes, I took a shower, and my scalp feels fine," says the 59-year-old Brit, known in his hometown as "The Ironman of Leicester."

"It's my neck that's sore, and my back and legs. It'll take a few days to get back to normal."

As for my other question: "Yes," he says, "many people think I am crazy. I don't care. I'm happy to make them laugh."

But this Guinness World Record holder is much more than a clown. In his hometown, he's respected for promoting physical fitness and a community center, where he works out. He tells kids, "Nothing is impossible" -- and proves it in outrageous ways.

Since immigrating to England from India in 1977, Singh has performed stunts that have been broadcast all over the world. He has pulled a 7.4-ton jet with his ears and inflated a meteorological balloon with what Guinness calls "the world's most powerful lungs."

This 5-foot-7, 168-pound man is all muscle, but his workout regime is not as extreme as some might think. He hits the gym for 30 minutes a day, six days a week.

"The best thing you can do for your body is be happy," he says. "Just exercise a little every day and try not to worry about the past or the future."

"I tell children, 'If you want to be an Olympic athlete, you can make yourself an Olympic athlete.' The most important thing is to have that vision of yourself in your head."

Appropriately enough, Singh's wife owns the record for the world's longest wedding dress, which features a 68-foot train. His eldest daughter landed in the Guinness book at 11 years old when she pulled two cars with her pony tails.

While most people Singh's age are thinking about retirement, he's planning a feat, still unannounced, to mark his 60th birthday. In the meantime, he'll resume operations at his security firm, where the consultants and guards are said to be in exceptional shape.

"I sometimes feel the coming of age," he says. "It's usually before I have my coffee."

Singh's hair-pulling record -- part of Guinness' World Records Week -- is a return to glory. Two years ago, he failed to pull that same bus with his ears.

And such failures can be painful. In one stunt, when a clamp affixed to his ear slipped, it tore through flesh, leaving him covered in blood. Still, he fastened that very same clip to his hair Thursday and entered the Guinness book for a fourth time.

"I will never be discouraged by defeat," Singh says. "Defeat only makes me try harder."

From another man's mouth such a statement might sound like hot air. But Singh proved in 1998 that you can inflate and burst a hot water bottle with just the power of your own lungs.

Hot air, in his case, can be pretty potent. And so can a lock of hair.