Daring to Defy Physics

By Barbara Healy

From our archives, Compass Magazine, January 2000.

Not many people in this world dare to defy the boundaries of physics the way Narinder Singh does. Singh, a native of India, holds the Guinness World Record for pulling the heaviest vehicle — with his teeth.
It all began when Singh — now a sturdy 6-foot tall, 40-year-old, 100 kilograms — was 15, growing up in the village of Killa Rai Pur, in India’s Ludhiana District. Singh says he was inspired when he saw one man in his village compete in a competition with the talent of pulling a very heavy piece of machinery a few meters — with his teeth. Singh was so impressed that he went home and began testing his own strength, pulling things with his own teeth.
Singh started with sugar cane processing machines, and then slowly moved up to tractors. In his twenties, he took on bigger challenges. He began pulling heavier objects such as railroad engines and railroad cars, buses, barges and ships. In 1992, he set his first Guinness World Record by pulling a 219-ton set of railroad cars in Armenia. He went on to set yet another World Record in Kaoshiung, Taiwan, by pulling a 320-ton ship six meters on January 4, 1997.
Singh’s real job is in India, where he works as a member of the Punjab Police Department. His home is in Nawabind Akalgarh, Vhagwara, Katurthala, Punjab. He and his wife Charanjeebgour have recently spent much time traveling in-between Taiwan and India so that he can make his performances at Taichung’s Guinness World of Records Museum.
Singh is currently a guest performer at the Guinness Museum in Taichung through December 28. While visiting the island this time, he has pulled a 16-ton bus packed with 82 students and also shocked a Taipei crowd by pulling a similar bus packed with people at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial square. Last year, he pulled a 190-ton railroad car in Taipei. Upon his return this year, he doubled this weight by pulling two of these, both times just for practice.
Singh’s active lifestyle stretches beyond time spent breaking world records. In his lifetime, he has run 20 marathons, always finishing in the lead, or close to it. For six years starting in 1983, he ran 42 kilometers, taking first place every time. One of his best times was two hours and twenty-nine minutes.
The set of pearly whites, he would like his audience to know, are 100 percent natural. He brushes regularly with Colgate toothpaste and weight trains three times a week. Aside from the regular sit-ups and push-ups, Singh also pulls two tractors up a hill twice a week using his teeth. His work and performance attire? A traditional robe, turban and sneakers, with good traction.
A staunch vegetarian, Singh opts for traditional Indian favorites such as sugar cane juice, fruit juice, bedam, dahlia, soy bean, nan (Indian whole wheat flat bread), green vegetables and a multitude of fruits. With regard to fruits alone, Singh often eats one papaya, a dozen apples, two guavas, and a large bunch of grapes per day. His grandmother lived to 113 years old and kept a full set of healthy teeth until the day she died.
He believes the secret to healthy living and keeping the toothaches away could also be the fresh cow’s milk he, his wife and 14-year-old son drink, as well as his mother’s fresh garden vegetables.
So what next? How could he possibly add on to his present record without yanking out his pearly whites? According to Singh, he still has more records to break. In February, 2000, he intends to attempt to pull two airplanes — 737s or 747s. He will warm up for next year’s attempt by pulling one plane this December.
Singh says he’d also like to bring a helicopter down, using a scale to measure the weight of the pull. For now, Singh can be found at the Guinness World of Records Museum, where he practices two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon pulling a two-car train with 30 people on board.

The museum is located at 77 Chaofu Road, Taichung, (04) 259-7123 at the intersection of Taichung Harbor Road and the North-South Freeway. The Guinness World of Records Museum in Taichung is the largest of its kind (as of 1998).