BHOPAL: Aged more than 118 years, the Japanese woman Kane Tanaka is the oldest surviving person in the world at present, as per the Guinness World Records.
But more than 5,500 km from Japan, a family in Madhya Pradesh claims that the female head of the family is 120 years, which if correct, could make her the oldest surviving person in the world.
Meet Kemli Mallah, the head of the boatmen family, which resides in Karahiya village of Rewa district.
As per Ramsiya, youngest of the three surviving sons of centurion Kemli, his mother, who hails from adjoining Satna district, was married to his father Ram Manohar in Rewa district 104 years back. “While my father died a centurion a decade back, my mother is still surviving and walking on her own with a wee bit support of grandchildren.”
“My father purchased the land (on which our thatched hut house is located) in Karahiya village of Rewa district in 1990. The document pertaining to the registry of the land mentions that my father Ram Manohar was 95 at that time, which means that had he been alive he would have been 125-year-old now, while my mother being five years younger than him, is 120 years old now,” claimed Ramsiya.
Importantly, the centurion Kemli is the mother of nine children, including five daughters and four sons. Ram Sajivan, one of her sons, is over 90 years now and is confined to bed in a moribund state owing to age-related problems.
Kemli doesn’t remember her actual age now. All she remembers is that she was born during the era of Rajas and Maharajas and travelled on a bullock cart from the present Satna district to Rewa district after marriage with Ram Manohar.
“My bidai was done on bailgadi (bullock cart) from my house in Dhawari locality of Satna town to my husband Ram Manohar house in Rewa district. I had nine children, including five daughters and four sons. While one son has expired, another son is confined to bed, what can I do if I’m not dying,” Kemli told journalists at her house in Karahiya village on Saturday.