Man ate metal, blades during yoga, thought he'd be healthy
A 52-year-old man from Delhi ate two metal plates, six needles, several blades and tubelights while performing yoga in 2008, believing this would keep him healthy. The objects remained in Shailendra Singh's stomach for nine years before he visited a Delhi hospital with acute pain in his stomach three months ago. Singh has undergone a surgery and is recuperating. 
The Shailendra Singh diet is not for everyone. Not even for Shailendra Singh, it would seem. The 52-year-old appears to have an eidetic memory about global politics and personalities. But he forgot a crucial fact from his own life: that he had gobbled up two metal plates, six needles, several blades and tubelights a few years ago.It all came back to him when he landed in Delhi's Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital with acute pain in his stomach about three months ago.Doctors who operated upon Singh were shocked by what they found inside him. The Ashok Vihar resident is now convalescing.Singh says he ate the items during yoga practice and believed that this would keep him healthy. The articles remained inside his stomach for nine years. Shailendra is a graduate, speaks fluent English and Hindi, and plays the harmonium. For a living, he works at a motor cycle spare parts shop."Shailendra was doing perfectly well in his life," his sister, Usha, told MAIL TODAY. "He is married and has a 20-year-old son, but his family has left him.""I was inspired by yoga, and if you perform yoga you can do anything," said Shailendra, revealing that he dreamt of joining the armed forces when he was young. "I was aware that these things could damage my intestines, but see, nothing has happened to me. Every person has a different style of performing yoga."FAMILY UNAWARE Usha said her brother is very active. He reads the newspaper every morning and performs yoga daily. "Even we were not aware that he had eaten metal plates, needles and tubelights. We would have never let him do such horrifying acts. We go to know only when my brother complained of stomach ache a few months. So we took him to RML hospital and ultrasound results showed these materials inside his stomach."Shailendra was also treated at RML's psychiatry ward. He played the harmonium there to keep himself and other inmates cheerful. However, doctors have discharged him now, recommending weekly checkups."Shailendra was here at RML for four months," said Dr RP Beniwal, senior psychiatrist at the hospital. "We treated him through antipsychotic therapy and medicines. He may have suffered the problem because of multiple factors: social, environmental, genetic and biological. Even the mosteducated person can face this problem. The condition is triggered by neuro-chemical substance imbalance inside the brain that can lead to 'schizoaffective disorder', which he suffered. But he has started improving with pharmacotherapy."