Thursday, August 21, 2008

World's 'oldest man' dies in India

Habib Miyan played the clarinet in a maharajah's orchestra before retiring 70 years ago. However, there is much dispute over his actual age. Although he said he was 138 years old, his pension book showed him to be a mere stripling at 129 - and the Guinness Book of Records has been unable to verify his age at all. Miyan, who lived in Jaipur in western India, had no birth certificate but has collected a state pension for decades. He once worked in the court of the king of Jaipur - Raja Man Singh, where he played in the wind section of the orchestra.

A crowd of thousands attended Miyan's funeral - demonstrating the fame to which he had risen in the state of Rajasthan. ... Miyan, who had been blind for more than 50 years and suffered limited mobility, spent most of his time at home praying and telling stories to his enormous extended family of 140 people.

"If you treat your body well, the body will treat you well," Miyan always said, according to a relative. - telegraph


Good genes?

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