I am of a tiny stature. Towering at 4 feet and 10 and a half inches, I always feel an unspoken bond with other tiny people. So when I came across Khagendra Thapa Magar, I sat up and read about him:

Nepal's shortest boy is waiting for word from Guinness World Records, where he has applied to be named the shortest in the world, his supporters said Wednesday.

Khagendra Thapa Magar, 14, is only 20 inches tall and weighs 10 pounds [Link].

Considering such an incredibly miniature size the teenager rightly believes that he deserves to be honored in the pages of the Guinness Book of Records. He has already submitted a request to be considered.

Thapa Magar was born in 1992, a couple of hundred km west of Katmandu . From the very beginning it became clear that the boy was far behind others in his growth process. According to his mother, the child began walking independently only at the age of 8 but by the time he was 11 he completely stopped growing. For a long time the parents hid the boy because they were ashamed of his defect but now he has received the long-awaited world-wide fame.

Thapa Magar now has his own support group that has created a special Internet website dedicated to him alone. The activists are hoping to use the site as a fundraising resource in order to gather enough money for the boy’s medical needs, for his education and for his family’s support [Link].

But he's only fourteen years old. Despite the fact that the articles say "he applied to be named as the shortest in the world," and "he has submitted a request to be considered," I'm thinking that it wasn't Khagendra who said, "Hey Mummy and Daddy-- can you sign me up with Guinness to compete as the shortest boy on this planet?" Apparently, it was the Khagendra Thapa Magar Foundation - set up on his behalf to collect funds for his medical needs and his "family's support" - that applied for him. And what are the objectives of this foundation?

 Objectives

a)	To provide essential medicine and treatment for the disability of Mr. Khagendra Thapa Magar.
b)	To arrange proper education for Khagendra Thapa Magar.
c)	To provide philanthropic support to get Khagendra Thapa Magar educationally, financially, mentally and socially rehabilitated.
d)	To make an effort to get his name registered in the Guiness Book of world as the shortest person in the world by exposing him to the world.
e)	To advertise and inform Khagendra Thapa Magar through electronic as well as print mass media.
f)	To search and rehabilitate the physically disabled people like Khagendra Thapa Magar.
g)	To nourish Khagendra Thapa Magar properly.
h)	To motivate the tourists to observe Khagendra Thapa Magar in Pokhara by arranging a dwelling place in Phokhara [Link]*

Maybe it's just me**, but there is something unsettling about all of this. Is this foundation's objective to advertise and parade this boy as if he were an item at a freak show? And does the supposed means justify the ends? Taking a 14 year old boy with a medical condition and bandying him around for publicity and exposure that the Guinness World Records can bring him?

And alas, his age had something to do with his disqualification:

“There is a possibility that he could be the shortest person in the world, however Guinness World Records cannot examine more details until he reaches the age of 18 years," The Reuters quoted Amarilis Espinoza, a Guinness World Records spokeswoman as saying.

Sadly, his "family," "friends," and the chairman of the foundation, Min Bahadur Rana, were disappointed and had their hearts crushed:

The boy's family and friends had trumpeted his claim hoping it would get him funds for his education and heath care.

They said they had raised around $4,000 for a trust in his name by organising shows where people can watch him dance and play [Link].

"We are a bit saddened but are hopeful that he can get the record in four years time," Rana said.

The trust has been raising money for the boy by taking him around the country and charging people to see him.

"We will continue to display him in exhibitions nationwide to secure his future," said Rana [Link].

Now, I'm aware of the fact that poverty causes some people to take measures such as these. They need funds for his "health care," so why not market his "uniqueness" and profit from it? At the same time, I can't help but feel like this little boy (no pun intended) is being exploited. Why not simply advertise his condition and ask for donations, rather than making him perform like Abu the monkey from the Disney movie Aladdin?

There could have been other options; but it looks like his family, "friends" and the foundation made the decision for him.

* NOTE: When I clicked on the foundation's web address, it said: The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to the site owner reaching his/her bandwidth limit. Please try again later. So the quotes that I provided here are from the cached version. We will "try again later."

** I filed this post somewhat hesitantly under "injustice" and "human rights" because it's entirely possible that I am the only one who reads this situation as "unjust" and a slight violation of Khagendra Magar's "human rights."