104-yr-old Marimuthu walks one km daily, has non-veg food twice a week

Marimuthu, belonging to Melporaiyur in Mettur of Salem district, Tamil Nadu is 104 years old. He has seen five generations after him, his wife is no more, his great-grandson is two years old. Among his four sons and four daughters, two sons to have passed away. On the 74th Indian Independence Day, he remains one of the few century-plus citizens living in relative comfort, reports Dinamalar.

The earliest memories of this centurion is that of his being a labourer during the construction of Mettur Dam in 1925 which is one of the largest dams in India located across the River Cauvery. It came up in 1934, nine years after construction began. Till date, the dam is considered a life-giver as it takes care of the irrigation and drinking water requirements for 12 districts in Tamil Nadu.

Till he attained the age of 80, Marimuthu used to have ragi gruel for breakfast and have a semi-solid concoction of it for dinner. As his son, Ravichandran reminisces: 'My father has his bath in hot water daily. His breakfast today is two idlis, he has rice for dinner and prefers to have meat twice a week. I remember our earlier days when he used to be up by 5 am and would take us to the fields. He used to plough the fields till 3 pm, without getting exhausted'.

The social life of Marimuthu is virtually nil as all his friends are dead. His wife, Rajammal, died in 2006 at the age of 84 which made the old man stay away from farming for a while. ' Even today, he walks barefoot for a kilometre in and around the house, daily' informs his son. This is the energy level fit for modern India, one can state confidently.