Writings of Kerala Geek

The “champion eater” of Thrissur died at the age of 63 on 9th December. He was suffering from diabetic problems for a long time.

Rappai popularly known as “eater rappai” was a familiar figure in Thrissur and Kerala. Rappai was a non-stop eater who could easily finish 700 idlis in a single sitting! There was no limit to his appetite (probably due to a medical condition) and could eat unimaginable quantity of food every time!

Some of Rappai’s well known eating marathons

1. Ate 10Kgs of halwa in 10 minutes!
2. Finished 700 idlis in one sitting!
3. Ate 300 bananas in one sitting and wanted more!

Rappai has an entry in Limca book of records for his eating ability. He also had won many eating competitions in Kerala. There is substantial money in eating competitions. So sometimes people used to even spread nails in the food given to Rappai to make him loose!

Now you would be thinking how he will satisfy his hunger? In Thrissur he had a lot of fans and most of his eating expenses were met by them. He also had good friends in the police department (sometimes he needed protection from angry hotel owners!). He was also invited to many of the inauguration functions etc.

Rappai was a nightmare for hotels which offered “unlimited meals” coupon. On one occasion he had taken three bucketfuls of rice, one bucket of fish curry and 10 kgs of cooked meat. Eventually the restaurant ran out of food!

Too bad there is no eating competition in Olympics. If there was one, Rappai would have got a gold medal for India!…

In the following photo Rappai is standing with Hira Ratan Manek who is yet to eat anything for last 11 years or so.

Further Reading
Rappai on BBC