Despite having just three participants, none of whom could perform due to anxiety, men behind bizarre farting competition are not ready to give up, yet
Alkesh Pandya, a participant
With only three participants going on stage and none of them ‘performing’, the farting competition in Surat fizzled out on Sunday. But the organisers have not given up hope, and have promised to bring the party to Mumbai next, after the festive season.
The organisers are confident that the Mumbai leg will throw up a winner – 'pad-shah' — after which they hope to take the event to Jaipur, Delhi, Kolkatta, Bengaluru and other cities from where they had got responses. "Lot of people said they would have participated if the event was in Mumbai, and since we too haven't found a winner, we will start work some time in November," said Yatin Sangoi. "We need find a proper venue and get all permissions in place before we make an official announcement." His partner, Mul Sanghvi, added: "Farting in public has always been a taboo and we want to tell people there is nothing wrong in it through the competition."
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Also Read: Be a 'Padshah'! India's first fart competition to be held at an event in Surat
Shied away
Sangoi said more than 80 people turned up on Sunday, but the cameras and large media presence turned many of them, especially women, away. Sanghvi said only three participants — Sushil Jain, 48, of Bardoli, Gujarat, Alkesh Pandya, 52, from Patan, Gujarat and Vishnu Heda, 30, from Surat, participated, but could not perform despite several attempts. "At 1.30 pm, we decided to end the programme and since we did not find our winners, we did not give the pad-shah trophy to anyone but gave gift hampers to all three, besides cash prizes to the first two participants," said Sanghvi.
Vinod Heda, one of the participants at the event in Surat
Sangoi said they will form an enclosure for participants in Mumbai so that they do not have to face the audience or the media. "We will however put CCTV cameras in the enclosure so that the audience can see the participants." Mentioning mid-day's September 19 report where doctors warned contestants on the downsides, the organisers said they had a doctor at the venue in case of medical emergencies.
Asked if they were disappointed with the poor turnout, they said, "Of course, the excitement would have been high had we got our first 'pad-shah'. But we are now determined to make the competition a yearly event and unearth the first winner, be it in Mumbai, Delhi or elsewhere." The organisers said that while they got Rs 4,000 via entry fees, the event cost them Rs 35,000. "We had even tied up with a tech company to make an electronic farting meter to record decibel levels, said Sangoi. The venue was on barter and the gift hampers and cash prize were sponsored."
Also Read: Doctors ask diabetics and heart patients to stay away from farting competition in Surat
'Winners' speak
Alkesh Pandya (52)
"I am a jovial person. I usually fart to irritate family members and friends, and they encouraged me to participate. I had rehearsed the previous night before I the 350-km bus journey and was pretty confident of winning. But despite numerous attempts, my system ditched me at the last moment. But I will come to Mumbai and win the trophy. I know the technique now. The body needs to be relaxed and anxiety-free. I think I was nervous on stage."
Sushil Jain (48)
"I have never won any prize all my life, but the organisers gave me cash prize and gift hampers for taking part, and this is a big honour for me. I am not married and stay in a joint family, so I distributed all gifts to relatives. I am happy I could take part in a competition that nobody would have thought could become a public event."
Rs 35,000
The cost of the event
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