02-29-2020, 01:35 AM
No -- I do not accept his claimed age of 122, even if it is 'only' a few days longer than that of the late Jeanne Calment. If his connection to Mohandas Gandhi is valid, then he is of interest just for that -- and being one of the last to testify about that great man from personal experience and participation.
Pandit Sudhakar Chaturvedi (Kannada: ಸುಧಾಕರ್ ಚತುರ್ವೇದಿ) (died 27 February 2020)[1][2] was an Indian Vedic scholar, Indologist, and supercentenarian. At the claimed age of 122 years, 313 days, some Indian newspapers reported him as the oldest Indian ever.[3][4]
Pandit Chaturvedi was reportedly born on 20 April 1897 in Bangalore, Karnataka, India[3][5][6] (or in Kyatsandra in Tumkur district, Karnataka state[7] according to one report).[8] One report also claimed an age of 121 in 2011, which would put his birth in 1890.[9]
Pandit Chaturvedi was given his title "Chaturvedi", which literally means "master of the four Vedas," for his knowledge of the Vedas.[3][10] He was a disciple of Swami Shraddhanand at Gurukul Kangri in Haridwar, where he got his Veda Vachaspati degree (equivalent to a postgraduate degree).[5]
Pandit Chaturvedi was a contemporary of Mahatma Gandhi, whom he first met when studying the Vedas in a gurukula in northern India. Subsequently, he became an ardent follower of Gandhian methods.[11] He was a witness to many events in the Indian independence movement, including being an eyewitness to the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre.[5][10][12][13][14] He was known as Gandhi's Postman, as he took down and delivered letters dictated by Gandhi addressed to the Viceroys or Governors-General.[6][10][15] Gandhi called him 'Karnataki'.[16] He lost the use of his right arm in 1938 while travelling with Gandhi, when the railwayman detached the last three compartments of the train as it was struggling to climb uphill. He took part in the freedom struggle[17] and was arrested at least 31 times during the freedom struggle,[3][6][10][13][15][18] landing in prisons all over the country from Peshawar to Vellore.[5]
He was offered the post of minister in the old Mysore state by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, which he turned down.[5] He also campaigned for the unification of the state.[19]
In his later life, he became a follower of Dayanand Saraswati of the Arya Samaj.[3] He adopted[3] a man named Arya Mitra[20] as his son, and had three grandchildren.[20] He never married:[5][20]
Pandit Chaturvedi was the first teacher of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.[10][21][22][23] In 2011 he took part in the India Against Corruption campaign.[17] He lived in Jayanagar, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.[3][7] and in 2010 stated he was still working for eight hours every day.[6] This included an hour-long lecture he gave on the Vedas every Saturday.[3][20][24] He woke up at 3 am[20] or 3:30,[3][15] going to bed by 7 pm.[20] He advised people to "follow the instructions in the Vedas and a happy life awaits you." He practiced a strict vegetarian diet.[3][15] He said he wanted to live to 300.[6][9][15][18]
Pandit Chaturvedi died on 27 February 2020, at the claimed age of 122.[25]
He was honoured by Motilal Banarsidass for his contributions to Indology, when it celebrated its centenary in 2003.[26] The Karnataka Sahitya Anuvada Academy gave him an honorary award for 2007–08.[27] In 2009 he was given a "Socio Economic Development Teacher Award", by the Sri Kashi Sesha Sastri Charitable Trust.[14] He was honoured by his alma mater, Gurukul Kangri university, in 2010.[28] In 2010 he was given a "Living Legend" Award by IDL Foundation at a public function where he pledged to donate his eyes.[6][18][29] In March 2011 he was gifted a wheelchair by the IDL Foundation, sponsored by Lokayukta Santosh Hegde[10][13][15][30] and began to use it.[17] On Republic Day in 2010, he was felicitated by the Governor of Karnataka.[31]
Pandit Chaturvedi has written over 40 books in the Kannada language and, as of 2008, was working on the publication of Vedic texts in 20 volumes.[27] He was also announced in 2002 to be heading a project of the Arya Samaj to publish a 30,000-page treatise in Kannada on Veda Bhashya,[32] and by 2009, three of the four Vedas and six volumes of the Rig Veda were released.[33]
He was the moving spirit behind the Bangalore Arya Samaj, which published the Kannada monthly magazine Veda Taranga.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudhakar_Chaturvedi
(Comment: some religious bodies have the habit of giving a promising scholar the identity of someone already deceased. Thus a promising young scholar might succeed a recently-deceased scholar and assume his name and key attributes, including his age and aspects of his biography. Thus a 23-year-old scholar suddenly ages to the age of the admired decedent and becomes much older.
On the other hand, if he could be associated reliably with a census report from about 1900 in British India...
What Wikipedia has to say:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longevity_claims
Pandit Sudhakar Chaturvedi (Kannada: ಸುಧಾಕರ್ ಚತುರ್ವೇದಿ) (died 27 February 2020)[1][2] was an Indian Vedic scholar, Indologist, and supercentenarian. At the claimed age of 122 years, 313 days, some Indian newspapers reported him as the oldest Indian ever.[3][4]
Pandit Chaturvedi was reportedly born on 20 April 1897 in Bangalore, Karnataka, India[3][5][6] (or in Kyatsandra in Tumkur district, Karnataka state[7] according to one report).[8] One report also claimed an age of 121 in 2011, which would put his birth in 1890.[9]
Pandit Chaturvedi was given his title "Chaturvedi", which literally means "master of the four Vedas," for his knowledge of the Vedas.[3][10] He was a disciple of Swami Shraddhanand at Gurukul Kangri in Haridwar, where he got his Veda Vachaspati degree (equivalent to a postgraduate degree).[5]
Pandit Chaturvedi was a contemporary of Mahatma Gandhi, whom he first met when studying the Vedas in a gurukula in northern India. Subsequently, he became an ardent follower of Gandhian methods.[11] He was a witness to many events in the Indian independence movement, including being an eyewitness to the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre.[5][10][12][13][14] He was known as Gandhi's Postman, as he took down and delivered letters dictated by Gandhi addressed to the Viceroys or Governors-General.[6][10][15] Gandhi called him 'Karnataki'.[16] He lost the use of his right arm in 1938 while travelling with Gandhi, when the railwayman detached the last three compartments of the train as it was struggling to climb uphill. He took part in the freedom struggle[17] and was arrested at least 31 times during the freedom struggle,[3][6][10][13][15][18] landing in prisons all over the country from Peshawar to Vellore.[5]
He was offered the post of minister in the old Mysore state by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, which he turned down.[5] He also campaigned for the unification of the state.[19]
In his later life, he became a follower of Dayanand Saraswati of the Arya Samaj.[3] He adopted[3] a man named Arya Mitra[20] as his son, and had three grandchildren.[20] He never married:[5][20]
Quote:"My youth was spent in the struggle. By the time we got freedom [in 1947], I was over 50 years. Who would give me a girl then?"
Pandit Chaturvedi was the first teacher of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.[10][21][22][23] In 2011 he took part in the India Against Corruption campaign.[17] He lived in Jayanagar, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.[3][7] and in 2010 stated he was still working for eight hours every day.[6] This included an hour-long lecture he gave on the Vedas every Saturday.[3][20][24] He woke up at 3 am[20] or 3:30,[3][15] going to bed by 7 pm.[20] He advised people to "follow the instructions in the Vedas and a happy life awaits you." He practiced a strict vegetarian diet.[3][15] He said he wanted to live to 300.[6][9][15][18]
Pandit Chaturvedi died on 27 February 2020, at the claimed age of 122.[25]
He was honoured by Motilal Banarsidass for his contributions to Indology, when it celebrated its centenary in 2003.[26] The Karnataka Sahitya Anuvada Academy gave him an honorary award for 2007–08.[27] In 2009 he was given a "Socio Economic Development Teacher Award", by the Sri Kashi Sesha Sastri Charitable Trust.[14] He was honoured by his alma mater, Gurukul Kangri university, in 2010.[28] In 2010 he was given a "Living Legend" Award by IDL Foundation at a public function where he pledged to donate his eyes.[6][18][29] In March 2011 he was gifted a wheelchair by the IDL Foundation, sponsored by Lokayukta Santosh Hegde[10][13][15][30] and began to use it.[17] On Republic Day in 2010, he was felicitated by the Governor of Karnataka.[31]
Pandit Chaturvedi has written over 40 books in the Kannada language and, as of 2008, was working on the publication of Vedic texts in 20 volumes.[27] He was also announced in 2002 to be heading a project of the Arya Samaj to publish a 30,000-page treatise in Kannada on Veda Bhashya,[32] and by 2009, three of the four Vedas and six volumes of the Rig Veda were released.[33]
He was the moving spirit behind the Bangalore Arya Samaj, which published the Kannada monthly magazine Veda Taranga.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudhakar_Chaturvedi
(Comment: some religious bodies have the habit of giving a promising scholar the identity of someone already deceased. Thus a promising young scholar might succeed a recently-deceased scholar and assume his name and key attributes, including his age and aspects of his biography. Thus a 23-year-old scholar suddenly ages to the age of the admired decedent and becomes much older.
On the other hand, if he could be associated reliably with a census report from about 1900 in British India...
What Wikipedia has to say:
Quote:In numerous editions from the 1960s through the 1980s, Guinness stated that
- The first two cases of people Guinness acknowledged as having reached 113 have now been discredited.[citation needed]
- The first three cases of people Guinness acknowledged as having reached 114 are no longer considered verified.[citation needed]
- Three people previously regarded by Guinness or the Gerontology Research Group as having reached 116 are no longer considered verified.[citation needed]
Quote:No single subject is more obscured by vanity, deceit, falsehood, and deliberate fraud than the extremes of human longevity.[6]
Despite demographic evidence of the known extremes of modern longevity, stories in otherwise reliable sources still surface regularly, stating that these extremes have been exceeded. Responsible, modern, scientific validation of human longevity requires investigation of records following an individual from birth to the present (or to death); purported longevity far outside the demonstrated records regularly fail such scrutiny.
Actuary Walter G. Bowerman stated that ill-founded longevity assertions originate mainly in remote, underdeveloped regions, among non-literate peoples, with only family testimony available as evidence.[7] This means that people living in areas of the world with historically more comprehensive resources for record-keeping have tended to hold more claims to longevity, regardless of whether or not individuals in other parts of the world have lived longer.
In the transitional period of record-keeping, records tend to exist for the wealthy and upper-middle classes, but are often spotty and nonexistent for the middle classes and the poor. In the United States, birth registration did not begin in Mississippi until 1912 and was not universal until 1933. Hence, in many longevity cases, no actual birth record exists. This type of case is classified by gerontologists as "partially validated".[citation needed]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longevity_claims
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.