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Rich man celebrates birthday with 4kg shirt made of gold

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You may like gold, but you probably don't like it as much as this fellow.

An Indian textile magnate commissioned a shirt of pure gold for his 45th birthday on Friday.

The eye-catching garment made of 18 to 22 carat gold​ cost Rs.1.30 crore (S$266,000) and weighed a whooping 3.9kg. And it wasn't just for show.

Mr Pankaj Parakh actually wore it at his birthday celebrations in Yeola, in the western Indian state of Maharashtra​.

Mail Online reported him as saying: "I wanted to wear something special when I say my thanks for my success at a thanksgiving visit to the Siddhivinayak Temple of the Hindu elephant god in Mumbai."

A very brave man

The man was, of course, surrounded by bodyguards as he paraded around in the shirt.

He said: "I admit you need to be brave to wear a shirt like this. Brave and also in possession of a gun like my fully licenced revolver which I also carry with me every time I go out."

The shirt took a team of 20 craftsmen at Shanti Jewellers at Parel in Mumbai who spent ​3,200 hours over two months to make. It has seven solid gold buttons and is apparently as flexible and comfortable as a normal shirt.

Just a little obsessed

Mr Parakh, who is married and has two sons, is well aware that his obsession with gold is a little over-the-top.

"I am the only one in the family that seems so passionate about gold, the rest of my family is neither impressed nor interested in gold. They just accept that it's my passion and it's part of our domestic life. My more extended family however think I'm a bit weird but I guess that's families," he said.

He added: "I never go out with less than two to three kilos of gold jewellery."

More gold than his wife

His love affair with gold started when he was just a child.

"I have always been fascinated with gold since I was five-years-old and studying in school. And over the years that interest has become a real passion. So it was logical that I would want to make my 45th birthday a golden affair.

"In fact even on my wedding 23 years ago a lot of people said it was embarrassing that I was wearing more gold than my bride, but I just love the Royal metal."

Self-made millionaire

With his flashy display, Mr Parakh may seem like a man who was born into wealth. But the school dropout is actually a self-made millionaire.

And he does plough money back into the community. He recently funded 120 operations for polio suffers at the Narayan Seva Sansthan Hospital of Udaipur in Rajasthan, reported Times of India.

The local politician, who is active in his community, said: "I spend at least a week each year offering voluntary services at the 1,000-bed hospital, the biggest and best for polio treatment in India. I also arrange for any requirements of the poor patients like food, medicines, surgery and blankets, from which I get immense satisfaction."

Source: Mail Online, Times of India

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