Baba Qamru - A Super Fit Nonagenarian

Exemplary fitness and the desire to live a healthy life has kept Qamaruddin Chato of Muhammad Abad village of Taluka Mirpursakro, district Thatta vigilant even at the age of 91 as he wants to become a role model for youth when it comes to living a healthy life.

He is known as the fittest person in the locality and is still able to perform all his work efficiently without any definite difficulty and support of anyone. Born in Muhammad Abad Village in 1931 Qamaruddin lovingly called Mama Qamru or Baba Qamru by his kinsman and villagers has set an example of living a healthy life at an age where the hope of mere survival dies.

"Life and death are in the hands of God Almighty but I have tried to live it in a better way and with my own style," says Qammrudin who believes that man is like a machine and his fitness is in his own hands.

He claims that the secret of his health is constant physical work and stress-free life, "I have been through many ups and downs in my life but never allowed the hardships to dominate me, firm belief in the creator many my journey easy and comfortable," he said

He rides bicycles, milk,s cows, works in farmland, and travels long distances by foot at the age of 91 without relying on anyone for support. When asked about his hobbies he said that cycling and riding bull carts were his favorite hobbies since his teenage years adding that cycling was one of the core reasons behind his sublime fitness.

Talking further about the secret of his good health he said “In our times, we used pure food, milk, butter, and ghee, worked in fields and traveled long distances. Fertilizer and pesticides were not used and we used grain produced from rain-fed crops.”

He said that when the pandemic (COVID-19) was at its peak his sons urged him to remain indoors, but he paid no heed to their pleas and continued his routine work, "Many of my age group met their creator during the pandemic but I luckily survived," said Qammarudin while bursting into laughter.

"I faced two major tragedies in my life that caused a massive emotional setback to me but I recovered from it by the passage of time," he revealed.

His grandson Norman said that they had always tried to keep their grandfather happy and jubilant and had kept him away from the depressing atmosphere.

In his message to the young generation, Qammarudin said, ``The youth of this generation must eliminate the element of frustration from their lives for a prolonged survival".