The contests are debilitating. They cause more pain than you can imagine. I start to dread each one days in advance and begin to suffer quite early on (usually from round 3) in each competition. The pain and panic builds up especially in between rounds when the hosts are introducing the chillies and cracking jokes with the audience. It is pure torture waiting in between rounds as the burn is viciously building up. Your lips, mouth, and throat feel like they are on fire; face muscles start to twitch involuntarily; and hands shake uncontrollably. You suffer from shivers, chills, shakes, and violent body tremors followed by muscle spasms, cramps, and heartburn. At times, your hands seize up and you experience what is called ‘naga claw’ – when that happens to me, I have to get a friend from my support crowd to hold the chilli for me and feed it to me. The worst thing I find is the way my eardrums feel like they are about to explode. The chillies do affect all individuals differently. Sometimes the pain is so extreme that I can’t even stand up straight afterwards. Some contestants, who have never experienced this kind of chilli-induced pain before, feel like they are having a heart attack and that can be quite scary.
