Centenarian’s story goes viral
Old lady from Parassala gram panchayat in Trivandrum, Kerala, now resides in a remote locality near Padappai
By : pradeep kumar
Update: 2015-10-11 06:14 GMT
Chennai: It is not quite often that a photographer finds the shot of a grandmother hanging clothes out to dry fascinating. But Lowis is no ordinary grandmother. Whatever she does captivates media’s attention.
This old lady from Parassala gram panchayat in Trivandrum, Kerala, now resides in a remote locality near Padappai on the outskirts of the city. The fuss about her age started with a WhatsApp message claiming her to be the oldest living person on the planet.
In the last four days, Lowis has hardly had a moment’s peace. On Saturday, when this correspondent paid her a visit, she was in the middle of a photoshoot by a Tamil magazine.
Lowis lives with her seventh son Shankaran (52), and his wife Valsala (49), on Ponni Amman Koil street in Arambakkam near Padappai. By now, Shankaran’s wife is aware of the drill and so, no sooner than this correspondent sat on the drawing room couch, she brought out a ragged piece of old paper that apparently ‘proves’ that Lowis was born on October 6, 1895.
For a 121-year-old, Lowis moves about quite naturally. Her motor skills elude her and she can hear very little. She has no sugar, blood pressure,” said Valsala.
Shankaran says his mother lives a disciplined life. “She wakes up at 6 am daily, sips a cup of tea and then goes about her chores. To this day, she washes her own clothes,” he said. Fish and rice is her favourite combo and she likes sweets.
Her age would be a Guinness world record if the number of the paper is to be taken at face value. But data proves she is yet to touch a century. The paper, an extract of admission register of Karumanoor Koduvilakom lower primary school in Parassala panchayat, and documented in 1981 by the panchayat office, states Lowis’ date of birth as 95 Edavam six. Edavam is the tenth month in the Malayalam calendar.
The ‘95’ could then suggest the Malayalam year of 1095. In 2015, the Malayalam year is 1191. Putting these data together, Lowis may yet have to wait a little to hit a century.