Meet The India's Tallest Family

Family is so tall they never use public transport & ride scooters in lieu Sharad Kulkarni, 52, is 7ft one.5ins tall & his spouse Sanjot, 46, is 6ft two.6ins tall.

They stand out wherever they go & now India 's tallest relatives is hoping to set a brand spanking new world record with their combined height. The Kulkarnis, from the city of Pune in the west of the country, tower above their countrymen. The family's combined height is a staggering 26ft.

Their daughters are both over 6ft & need to be models.

Mr Kulkarni said: They were a tiny disheartened. It s lovely to have recognition when you live your life being so different. It ends up meaning something. But they are excited about new prospects.

Mr & Mrs Kulkarni were crowned India is tallest couple by their country is Limca Book of Records after they married in 1989. They had hoped to be named the world's tallest couple by the Guinness Book of Records, until it emerged that Wayne & Laurie Hallquist, from Stockton , Texas , stand a combined inch taller at 13ft 4ins.

Mrs Kulkarni said: It is hard for a woman to be taller than a man in India . The man is the more authoritative role so I would never need to marry a smaller man & then him be ridiculed about his spouse.

Growing up, Mr & Mrs Kulkarni faced years of teasing & ridicule. When Mr Kulkarni hit 7ft as a teenager they ploughed his energies in to sports & ended up playing basketball for his country. But Mrs Kulkarni struggled to go unrecognised & slot in in the remote Indian village where they lived. The pair began to accept early on in their teenagers that marriage day might be difficult.

It was a huge possibility that I had never marry .

But Mrs Kulkarni is grandmother spotted Mr Kulkarni walking down a street in Mumbai evening and approached him. Mr Kulkarni said: This older lady came up to me and asked if I was one time married or single and would I meet her granddaughter who was over 6ft. I didn't think her at first so I refused but my friends persuaded me to take her number.

A few weeks later Mr Kulkarni is parents called the number and a meeting was arranged for the potential couple, as is traditional in India. Mr Kulkarni, who works at a bank, said: ‘Many women have claimed they’re 6ft but then, when we meet they’re only about 5ft 10ins and too small for me. 

But when I met Sanjot I was happy she was well over 6ft. I knew we’d be happy together.’The couple married in December 1988. A year later Limca Book of Records pronounced them India ’s tallest married couple.