106-yr-old and still going strong

He was forty when India got independence. Born in Nizam-ruled Aurangabad, 106-year-old Yousufuddin Khan Afradi is a living legend for the people of Hyderabad.

Born on March 23, 1907, at Nawab Sabed ka Mohalla in Aurangabad which was under the then Nizam state, Khan was spotted at the Silver Crescent Hospital at Mehdipatnam here on Saturday.

According to Dr Hidayathulla Khan, the ophthalmologist who operated Khan’s right eye, said: “After the cataract was removed from his right eye, he was able to see without the help of spectacles.” The doctor said “I haven’t seen a man of 106 years who doesn’t suffer from any ailments; he’s perfectly healthy.”

Popularly known as Khan Sahab among his acquaintances, Khan has three sons and a daughter. He studied in the City College in old city. An ardent lover of sports, Khan, in his youth was a body builder and a runner as well. Having worked as a secretary at the International Air Transport Association in Baghdad from 1962 to 1970, Khan presently resides at Muradnagar here.

“My father-in-law has no diet plan. He eats whatever is cooked at home, but does walk for half an hour every day,” said Khan’s son-in-law Noor Ahmad Khan.

“I have no secrets for such a long life. I eat food with less masala and salt,” Khan said. Wearing a spotless white kurta and a traditional turban, the centenarian is happy to have followed his daily “walks of life” without having missed much. He says, “My day starts at the crack of a dawn. After drinking tea, I go through both Urdu and English newspapers of the day. And I read without wearing spectacles,” says Khan with pride.

But, there’s a sense of sadness in him as he mulls over the present state of affairs in the country.
Asked whether his name has been mentioned in any of the Book of Records, Khan tasting his favourite sweet ‘Khubani Ka meetha’, said: “Somebody said…Zindagi badi honi chahiye ..lambi nahi (Life must be big not long)”.