By Tim Binnall
An Indian man recently set a strange record in his country by staring at the sun for full hour without blinking. According to a local media report, a retired government worker named MS Verma pulled off the remarkable feat late last month in the city of Mathura. Before an audience of reporters, doctors, and even some dignitaries, the man casually sat back in a chair with his unwavering gaze fixed upon the sun for a staggering sixty minutes. Verma was subsequently examined by a medical professional who determined that his vision was perfectly fine despite the man having stared down the sun with his naked eyes for an hour.
As for how Verma was able to accomplish the awesome achievement, he explained that he has been practicing sungazing, or trāṭaka as it is known in India, for 25 years and, over time, he has slowly increased his tolerance to the point that last month's 'performance' was actually not particularly difficult for him. Amazingly, the man's marathon session smashed India's previous record for such a display of the skill, which was set back in 2019 when Pradeep Belagavi stared at the sun for 'only' 10 minutes. Verma now hopes that his triumph will be recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records so that he can lay claim to the global title for sungazing.