Shun debt, vices to live long, says 95-year-old

BHAVNAGAR: ‘Nonagenarian rickshawallah’ is an uncommon expression because nonagenarians, people between 90 and 99 years, are rare in India.

So Bhavnagar can feel doubly proud that it is the home to a 95-year-old stalwart of shuttle-rickshaw driving  — the self-sufficient, financially independent, and organically cheerful Bachukaka.

The welcoming smile has never left the face of Bachukaka, arguably the oldest rickshaw driver in India, since he began ferrying passengers some 40 years ago. He attributes his untroubled longevity to a strict health regime and an inflexible moral code. “I have never eaten anywhere but at my home; I never break that rule,” Bachukaka said. “Besides, I haven’t taken even a grain from my own brothers for the past 30 years.”

Bachukaka said that he consciously avoided all addictions. “I don’t even have tea,” he said. “I wake up at 3am every day, practice some Yoga  and pray.” Bachukaka’s day on the road begins at 8am and he drops off the last lot of passengers at 6pm, taking only a short lunch break to savour homemade food. “I never take afternoon naps,” he said.

At the end of a hard day, Bachukaka usually earns between Rs200 and Rs300.
But he does not complain; his ability to take the rough with the smooth may have been sharpened during his life as a soldier.

“I joined the Saurashtra Infantry as a sipahi in 1928, and I was paid Rs39 per month. I later became a schoolteacher,” he said. “But at Rs6.50 per month, a teacher’s salary was not enough to live a decent life.”

Bachukaka became a diamond cutter in search of some stability and sustenance. “That didn’t work out either,” he said. “Which is when I decided to run a shuttle.”
Perhaps that was the right choice. Today, when Bachukaka plays with his granddaughter’s daughter, he is a content man.
s_nikunj@dnaindia.net