Thaindian News

Shimla, April 10 (IANS) The Great Khali, the famous World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) grappler, is taking a break and returning to his native village in Himachal Pradesh later this month after some twenty months of hard wrestling, his family said Thursday. When Dalip Singh Rana, 35, the tallest WWE wrestler at 7 feet 3 inches (217.5 cm) and weighing 190 kg, returns to his Dhiriana village in mountainous Sirmaur district, some 150 km from here, he will find his home transformed.

His younger brother Inder Singh is giving final touches to their brand new modern house, which has been built in place of a once modest traditional wooden Himalayan house.

“Dalip will land in India on April 26 but will first report at his Punjab police office in Jalandhar. He will reach home (his village in Himachal) a couple of days later,” said Inder Singh.

“He is expected to stay in the village for at least a month. All the family members and villagers are eagerly awaiting his arrival for the first time after he joined WWE,” he said.

Rana - who took on the name ‘The Great Khali’ when he began his wrestling career with WWE - was born in abject poverty and worked as a roadside labourer and porter before the Punjab Police gave him a job. A sub inspector in the police force, he is on long leave to allow him fight in WWE.

Once in Punjab Police, Rana took to bodybuilding and won the Mr. India title in 1995 and 1996. He later also acted in a Hollywood film, “The Longest Yard”.

He is married to Harminder Kaur whom he met in Punjab.

The Great Khali has been a WWE world heavyweight champion and has fought all top wrestlers in the WWE circuit, including the legendary ‘Undertaker’ several times.

Rana’s daily training schedule consists of two hours of weight training, morning and evening.

Maintaining his giant size requires a strict and intimidating dietary regimen: one gallon of milk, five chickens and two dozen eggs, along with chapatis, juice and fruit daily.