Kerala - Kochi   

Going strong at the ripe age of 107

KOCHI: As the world celebrated yet another International Day of Elders, Rosakutty, 107, seems unmindful of her age. Having played granny to many a generation she is perhaps the most popular figure in Kothad village falling under the Kadamakkudy panchayat in Ernakulam district.

Apart from age-related frailty, Ms. Rosakutty is healthy for someone of her age. Ms. Rosakutty first shot into the limelight early last year when she became the eldest ever student to undergo computer training through the Akshaya project. Since then, as they say, there was no looking back.

Her fame soon grew to celebrity proportions what with media across the country and even abroad doing stories on her.

Even as she counts the days to celebrate her 108th birthday, which falls on December 17, memories from her more than a century-old life are still vivid in her mind.

“Her memory is still intact and she is also able to recollect things if asked about an incident from the past,” a proud Pushkin said about his grandma.

This enables her to recall even the political scenario from the days of the Praja Socialist Party.

Her favourite political leader remains the late EMS Namboodiripad. However, this liking did not prevent her from hurling slogans against the Marxist leader during the liberation struggle.

She remembers how the priest of her parish gathered the believers by ringing the bell and urged them to rise against the communist government in revolt.

A fourth standard dropout, she is still able to read if the font size is comparatively bigger.

Ms. Rosakutty is staying with her son Davis, who runs a teashop. She married Paili, a daily wages worker, at the age of 22. She recollects with a chuckle that a dowry of Rs.30 was fixed for her marriage. Her poor parents could not manage the amount fully. Her husband died in 1982.

Of her eight children, two died at a tender age while three others died owing to old age. She used to go for daily work to assist her husband in running the household besides doing babysitting. “Perhaps, my grandma had taken care of almost all the grownups in this area at least once,” Mr. Pushkin said.

Ms. Rosakutty fell ill recently after getting caught in the rain. Ever since she had developed some difficulty in walking and spends most of the time inside the house, he said. But then, she has already walked more than anyone else in a life spanning more than a century.

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