Dad @ 96! Hrmph

At a time when Indian media's view finders remained glued to Arvind Kejriwal and his targets, I happened to come across a news item on India in a British tabloid The Sun, which of course is a telling commentary on why we seem to be always losing the battle against population explosion.

Ramjeet Raghav, a 96-year-old farmer from Sonepat became a father recently! Billed as world's oldest dad, he only bettered his own world record when he became a father two years back. In a country where life expectancy of men barely top 60, it is indeed an unthinkable feat.

In his photograph he has snow white beard and forehead ridden with lines. But surprisingly he seems to be  standing erect without any walking stick.

Sun in its typical tabloidese describes him as 'Randy' Ramjeet and 'oldest swinger in town'. What is more, his wife is 60 years old!

Ramjeet, a former wrestler, said a diet of milk, butter and almonds (thankfully no  chowmein) keeps him young and claimed he was even capable of having more babies! However, thankfully, he now wants his wife to get sterilised, as they now have two children and that too both sons! What more can one ask for in a patriarchal society?

The mainstream media in India seems to have given this story a miss. Even the nosey and chatty TV channels have decided to ignore it. A Google search on Ramjeet only throws up foreign sites such as Huffington Post, Daily Mirror.

Daily Mirror said he admits that his neighbours are more than jealous of his sex drive, saying: “I do it three or four times a night.” And can shame even 25 year olds in lovemaking. In case you thought it was an empty boast, his wife seconds it: “He doesn’t seem old to me, he can make love like any 25-year-old man, even better because he can go on all night, and he makes a wonderful father.” 

The comments section ranged from sassy (someone suggested he should have a relationship with Madonna) to anger over the plight of kids.

A country that is struggling to rein in its burgeoning population, this is certainly no flattering news.

Also Read: Bangalore Beat