‘The Man With The Golden Shirt’ - has earned a place in the Guinness World Records (GWR). The GWR certificate issued on Tuesday cites Parakh, 47, as the man with “the most expensive gold shirt in the world costing Rs.98,35,099 ($161,354/GBP 95,856)” as on August 1, 2014.
“This is simply unbelievable. I am a small man from a remote area in Maharashtra. I am happy that this achievement had catapulted my village name into the whole world,” said an emotional Parakh.
“I had stitched this special gold shirt with seven golden buttons for my 45th birthday two years ago. I have been fascinated by gold since my school days and over the years it became a passion, almost an obsession,” Parakh smiled.
The shirt was designed by Bafna Jewellers, Nashik and meticulously executed by Shanti Jewellers at Parel in Mumbai. A team of 20 select artisans has spent 3,200 hours over two months to craft the 18-22 carat pure gold strands, to the last thread and ‘stitch’ it.
The shirt, weighing exactly 4.10 kg, is currently valued at over Rs1.30 crore. It is supplemented by other golden paraphernalia such as a gold watch, several gold chains, large gold rings, a gold mobile cover and golden-framed spectacles - the total weight of this opulence is a whopping 10 kgs!
“At my marriage 25 years ago, many guests considered me an embarrassment as I wore more gold than the bride,” he recalled.
Made of gold, the shirt is fully flexible and comfortable, absolutely smooth and harmless, with a thin cloth lining inside to avoid rubbing or chapping the body, washable and even repairable with a lifetime guarantee, Parakh said.
The school dropout, Parakh made his fortunes from a garment fabrication business and is also the Nationalist Congress Party’s Deputy Mayor of Yeola town in Nashik district, around 260 km from Mumbai.
Parakh is a down-to-earth and caring human being, deeply involved in a variety of social and educational activities. He has fully financed 150 polio operations in the past seven years through the renowned Narayan Seva Sansthan Hospital of Udaipur in Rajasthan. He spends a week each year to offer voluntary services, financing poor patients, providing food, medicines and other requirements.
By Premji
