The Hindu : Dwarf couple headed for record books?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 21, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Dwarf couple headed for record books?

By Our Staff Correspondent

MANGALORE, MARCH 20. Nature may have played a cruel joke on the couple, Praveen and Pushpa, in making them dwarfs, but it is they who are smiling.

The couple was recently blessed with a baby boy. While Praveen, all of three feet, hails from Bolar, his wife, Pushpa, who has a similar stature, is from Bejja of Hosangadi in Kerala's Kasargod district.

Praveen, who never thought he would get married, was delighted to make Pushpa his life partner at a mass marriage at Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala on April 26, 2002, and it was the beginning of a unique relationship.

There are no reported cases of dwarfs becoming parents, and Praveen and Pushpa seem to be ready to enter the record books. While the Internet has data on the shortest couple in the world, a search for a dwarf couple with a baby draws a blank.

The Head of the Department of Gynaecology, Kasturba Medical College, S.R. Nayak, who handled the case, says it is unique.

The baby, whom the parents, plan to name Nishanth, weighed 2.7 kg at birth and is doing fine. Dr. Nayak was assisted by Kasturi of S.K. Hospital at Ullal in performing a Caesarean section.

He said the chances of Nishanth growing into a person of small stature were high. However, Dr. Nayak has assured the couple that this may not be the case, and told them that an X-ray of the bone structure of the child in the days ahead will give the picture.

Praveen, a Billava Malayali, makes a living selling flowers, and Pushpa, a Ganiga, is a housewife.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka