Mortal Combat

Can life be extended indefinitely? There is a renewed vigour among scientists looking for ways and means to cheat death.

- Rakesh Kalshian

SQUATTED ON a charpai just outside his one-room tenement in an obscure village called Karahal on the edges of the Chambal ravines in Madhya Pradesh, Ram Sevak Pathak exudes a Buddha-like serenity. His eyes, ears and knees might be deserting him, and his brain may now have a tenuous hold over his hand muscles, but looking at his relatively smooth skin, his upright spine, and, most remarkably, his exceptionally supple memory, no one can guess that the man is 105 years old.

What’s the secret of his long life when an average Indian man does not even cross 70? He betrays a childlike smile and replies with utter seriousness: “I believe the most important thing is to give your body the respect it deserves. If you don’t, there would be obvious consequences.” Pathak says that as much as he could, he has tried to follow a regular regimen of diet and exercise, besides abstaining from alcohol and tobacco. “Even now I do yoga in the morning,” he says with pride. “My only weakness,” he adds, “was spicy food, especially chilies, which I think did me much harm.”

In Pathak’s reckoning, having a purpose in life also plays a key role in keeping body and soul together for a long time. Pathak is a veteran Gandhian who, among other things, fought against the British rule; worked hard to unshackle the Saharias, an adivasi tribe that dwells in these parts, from the fetters of feudalism; walked thousands of miles as part of Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan movement; and was closely involved in the 1972 mass surrender by the Chambal dacoits. An impressive body of work, but Pathak says he owes his long years chiefly to the good wishes of the Saharias for whose good he has worked all his life. “If I am born again, I want to be born as a Saharia,” he says.