When you've been around a hundred years, you sure have a lot of stories to tell. So it is with Nellayi Rama Iyer Venguswamy, a WWII survivor, who celebrates his milestone on Friday.
Family
His family already celebrated the centenary as per the lunar calendar on September 4, with his three children and their spouses, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, along with many other well-wishers in attendance.
Mr. Venguswamy was born in 1911 at Nellayi in Kerala and like millions of his generation, learned shorthand and typewriting. At the age of 29, he found himself in Rangoon, the then Burmese capital, working for Brooke Bond in 1940, leaving his family back in India.
With a sharp memory and a zest for life, the centenarian vividly narrated the Japanese bombing of Rangoon and Brooke Bond's shifting to Mandalay.
He then had to make his way from Mandalay to the Burmese border town of Tamu, walking through the forests with a group of 15 to 20 people only to be left behind at a Tamu medical camp because of illness. He lived to tell his tale, resuming his career with Brooke Bond in its Calcutta office till he retired in 1974.
He then served as a Secretary of the former President of India V.V. Giri during his retirement years.
Voracious reader
He has been living with his oldest son, Jayaram, in Bangalore since 1996, spending most of his time reading books on current affairs as well as spirituality.
Even at this age, he meticulously maintains a diary and is an independent as a 100-year-old can be.
