Meet tallest man of India

At 8.1, He Claims to be India's Tallest Man. But Life Isn't Easy

Written by Adrija Bose | 

Dharmendra Singh, who claims to be tallest man of India, poses with a visitor at Nauchandi Fair in Meerut. (AFP)

Dharmendra Singh claims the title of India's tallest man. At 2.4m tall (8 ft 1 in), he is only 11 cm shy of the world record. But here's why Singh is having a hard time.

The 32-year-old from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, is reportedly struggling to find both a job and a wife because of his colossal height. Despite being armed with a master's degree in Hindi, Dharmendra Singh's height has proved a disadvantage in the job market.

In an interview to The Telegraph he said, "Whenever I went for interviews for jobs, people asked how I will work if I am so tall."

The lack of employment opportunities forced Singh to the local amusement park, where he works as a freak show performer. People pay to gave a picture clicked with him. For each picture, he gets Rs 10.

And sometimes, he says, people "run away without paying".

Besides trouble finding a job he likes, Singh also fears he will never find a wife. "In terms of marriage, the main problem is my height. It will be very difficult to find someone who is tall enough for me. I think it is impossible," he was quoted as saying by The Telegraph.

He also has trouble walking because of his immense height, and fractured his hip bone a few months ago.

Dharmendra Singh's family is not exceptionally tall except for his maternal grandfather who was 7 ft 3 in. As a child, he was often bullied by his peers and called names like 'giraffe' and 'camel'. And some would say that his height has made him 'hopeless'.

The good part of being eight-foot tall? He feels like a celebrity when people want to be photographed with him. "I am immensely popular and it is all because of my height," he says.