Theetta Rappai

Theetta Rappai (Malayalam: തീറ്റ റപ്പായി, 20 April 1939 - 9 December 2006) was an Indian competitive eater who used to eat enormous quantities of food.^[1] Rappai used to eat 75 idlis of rice for breakfast, buckets of rice and curries for lunch, and 60 chapatis for dinner. He is known to have eaten 250 idlis and 15 kg of pudding and halwa in one sitting. On a different occasion, he is known to have consumed 750 idlis, 25 kg appam, hundreds of bananas, and buckets of payasam.^[2] Rappai had won several eating competitions in and outside Kerala. His name had been included in the Limca Book of World Records^[3]

Early life

He was born in Thrissur city. Rappai shot to fame after he challenged a Thrissur restaurant that offered an all-you-can-eat buffet. He polished off three bucketfuls of rice, one bucket of fish curry, and 10 kg cooked meat. At the end of it, he quipped that he was still hungry. Finally, the restaurant staff had to call the police.^[4] Doctors ascribed his insatiable appetite to a hypothalamus dysfunction in the brain. This meant that he did not get the sensation to stop eating. In July 2006, Rappai's huge appetite has had to be curtailed because he developed a severe stomach ache and diabetes. Due to these problems, he retired from eating enormous quantities and relied to normal eating.^[5]

Death

Theetta Rappai died in Jubilee Mission Hospital in Thrissur city at 4:30 AM (IST) on 9 December 2006, aged 67. He was a chronic bachelor.^[4] He had retired from eating competitions earlier that year, after he was diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension, thus making his dream of Guinness Book unfulfilled. He was 120 kg when he died and his family had to build a special coffin for him.^[6] He was buried at Lourdes Church, Thrissur.

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