By Lanny Swerdlow, R.N.

A little-noticed story carried on allheadlines.com on Dec. 4, 2006, reported that a 125-year old woman, Fulla Nayak, a resident of a small village near the coast of India, “died of old age.” The story noted that, “She said the reason of her living for so long is smoking Ganja and drinking wine made out of Palm Leaves.”

Most remarkably, a story about her as being one of the oldest women alive in India had been published less than a month earlier on newkeralia.com, an Internet-based news service for the Indian state of Kerala. That story also noted that “Fulla loves to smoke ganja and cigars and take palm juice.”

The newkeralia.com article written on Nov. 14 reported that “According to Narayan Nayak, his grandmother, Fulla Nayak of Kanarpur village in the coastal district of Kendrapada district, is definitely the oldest woman living in the world.” Although her grandson, who is now 76, unequivocally states her age is 125, a voter photo identity card issued by the government in 1995 would put her age at 120 years.

What is so fortunate is that this article was written by a reporter who actually interviewed Nayak. The following excerpt is quite illuminating.

“Fulla has never suffered any debilitating ailment in her long years. All these years, cold and cough have been my worst complaints,” Fulla told Indo-Asian News Service. Except for her weak eyesight, Fulla maintains good health and walks without support.

The grand old woman (two of her four daughters are still alive) lives along with more than two dozen relatives in a small mud-walled thatched house in Kanarpur, about 25 kilometers from the district headquarter. Her eldest daughter, Jamuna, 92, lives in the same village. Her husband died at the age of 50.

She said she has hardly any unfulfilled wishes now. “I want to give more love to my great-great grandson Rajiv if I remain alive for a few more years. Now her only desire is to go to the holy city of Puri to worship Lord Jagannath at the far end of her life.”

She must have known the end was near as she died about three weeks later on Dec. 4, 2006. Of course, at 125, the end is always very near.