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Indian Man Shows Passport Claiming To Have Been Born In 1896

Indian Man Shows Passport Claiming To Have Been Born In 1896

If verified, he's the oldest person to ever have lived

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

An elderly Indian man has stunned airport staff by showing them a passport listing his date of birth as 8 August 1896.

If true, that would make Swami Sivananda the world's oldest man at 123 years old. To put that into perspective, when he was allegedly born, Queen Victoria was still on the throne.

Mr Sivananda is from Behala in India, and as a child he was raised by a spiritual guru. He attributes his extraordinary longevity to a lifetime of practising yoga, eating food without any spices and remaining celibate.

Imagine 123 years of bland food and no sex, though. Is it really worth it?

Swami Sivananda shocked airport staff when they saw the date of birth on his passport.
Getty

The alleged 123-year-old was travelling on a flight from Kolkata to London, via a stopover in Abu Dhabi. It was at the Emirati airport where staff discovered his passport said he was born in the 19th century.

It has to be noted that we can't be sure whether or not that date is entirely true. The only records of Mr Sivananda's birth are from temple records - which aren't always accurate - and he was given up by his family when his parent's died.

However, if the document is correct, it would make Mr Sivananda the oldest person who has ever lived.

The oldest verified person ever to have lived was Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment. Upon her death in 1997 she was 122 years and 164 days old.

At 123, Sivananda - who would have celebrated that birthday in August - has surpassed her. Unfortunately, it's may be quite tough to verify that he's as old as he says he is given the nature of his documentation.

Sivananda claims to be 123 years old.
Getty

Despite that, he is in the process of getting the Guinness Book of World Records to verify him.

He said: "Discipline is the most important thing is life. One can conquer anything with discipline in food habits, exercise and sexual desires.

"Because I was born in poverty, I have never had great demands from life. Nowadays, people are unhappy, unhealthy and have become dishonest, which pains me a lot.

"I just want people to be happy, healthy and peaceful."

Regardless of whether he gets into the annual book, he's still become something of a local celebrity and travels around India from his home city of Varanasi giving interviews to the press and lectures on his life.

People flock to see him and try to understand the secret to his long life.

Plain chicken, brown bread, and lay off the sex. Simple as that guys.

Featured Image Credit: Getty

Topics: World News, Interesting, Weird