Anandita Dutta Tamuly from Titabor village, 325 km east of Guwahati, Assam, India, has a pecuiliar fiery habit - gobbling red-hot chillies without batting an eyelid or shedding a tear.
She is like any other woman of her age - except for her preference for the local chilli variety called the Naga Jolokia or Bhut Jolokia (Capsicum frutescens). She can easily chew down 60 of the fiery peppers in two minutes. She can even break the chilli and splash it on her eyes without any apparent discomfort. She gave a stunning performance of her abilities in a TV show named "Shabaash India".
The Naga Jolokia is claimed by scientists and also recognised by the Guiness book of records as the world's fieriest. The hotness of the Naga Jolokia chilli, measured in Scoville units, was 1,001,304 units compared to the Mexican chilli's 577 units, they said. Tamuly hails from the state of Assam, where the pepper occurs as a natural hybrid. The local variety of the chilli is grown mostly in the hilly terrain and is considered a staple menu in every meal among the northeastern people.
'I have been eating Naga Jolokia since my childhood and never realised the hotness in my mouth,' she said.
She started munching chillies when she was just five years old. 'I had a sore tongue and my mother applied chilli paste to cure the infection when I was five years old. Since then I developed a penchant for chillis,' Tamuly said.
Tamuly claims her chilli eating habit has had no adverse effect on her health.
