Homeopath and psychologist from Hyderabad, Dr Kishore Reddy, sure can talk. On Saturday, he claimed to have set a world record for the longest-ever speech by delivering one for 25 hours, six minutes and 28 seconds. The subject, some would argue, lends itself to such 'speechathons'. It was about 'How to build a happy marriage.'
Reddy is hoping that his feat will earn him an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records, was backed by eight years of research on 260 singles and 60 couples. Reddy said he wrote to Guinness in July, to send them his proposal of the over-a-day-long speech, which they approved in August. Reddy will send the tapes to Guinness once he reaches Hyderabad.
In his magnum opus, he spoke about the "true beliefs" and "false beliefs" that influence people's decisions about their marriage. He added that "people who do not get married are incomplete" and insisted that "homosexuals are victims of a biological tragedy".
His perception of homosexuals follows from his view of unmarried people leading lesser lives. When asked why gay marriages are not legal in most countries, Reddy said their sexuality was not a choice but a "biological compulsion", and added that a homosexual male can never become a complete man.
Reddy, who has been married for six years, said that he and his wife Rama both feel that theirs is a happy marriage, blessed with one child. There was no way of verifying this, since his better half had not accompanied him to the Press Club, where he was delivering the speech. Reddy says he founded the Marriage Research Foundation, along with four other psychologists, and they have been conducting marriage enrichment programsand workshops for pre-marital counselling. He added that he has appealled to the Centre to introduce "marriage education" instead of sex education.
"Indians accept sex only within marriage. So if children are educated about sex as a part of marriage, it would make their parents comfortable," he said. Reddy also suggested that November 12 be observed as 'Marriage Fidelity Day' though he agrees that observing a day will not put an end to extramarital affairs.
