AN Indian woman who holds several awards for the extreme length of her hair has ambitions of one day becoming a Guinness World Record holder.

    Smita Srivastava, of Allahabad, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, currently holds the record for having the longest hair in India – documented at 6 feet (1.8 meters) in the Limca Book of Records.

    Her hair now stands at 7 feet (2.1 meters) — more than three inches longer than the height of the average basketball player.

    But the 37-year-old Indian Rapunzel, who has become somewhat of a local celebrity, does not intend to rest on her laurels.

    She said: “My life is a busy life. My hair length is 7 feet.

    “I have won many awards and I am a record holder in the Limca Book of Records and I am planning to attempt a record for the Guinness Book of Records.

    “Whenever I go out shopping to the market people admire me and they come and talk to me, asking me how I have such long hair.

    “Women and kids come and touch my hair thinking that it’s fake hair.

    “But after realizing it is original hair, they say ‘you are lucky’ and that my hair is ‘so good and long’.”

    Srivastava is a brand ambassador for several local oil products and is also a regular jury member at a major beauty contest in her hometown.

    Despite her best efforts to date, however, the Indian Rapunzel still has some way to go before she knocks the current female Guinness World Record holder of the longest hair off her perch.

    Xie Qiuping of China has held the record since 2004 after her hair, which she had been steadily growing since 1973, was measured at 5.627 meters.

    (SD-Agencies)