Soobagia Sarran has seen five generations of her family come and go. The eldest of her 13 children, Sookdaye Poochoon, died at the age of 89.Today she has seven surviving offspring, more than 40 grandchildren and so many great-grand children that she has lost count.
Tomorrow, Soobagia celebrates her 109th birthday. Born on December 13, 1901, in the village of Waterloo in central Trinidad, she got married at the age of nine to Sarran, who died 35 years ago. Her parents came from India and worked on the Waterloo Sugar Estate for the Tate and Lyle Sugar Company that later became Caroni (1975) Limited.
Soobagia also worked on the sugar estate with Sarran. After she retired from Tate and Lyle, she sought employment with a private sugar cane farmer in her home village of Phoenix Park. She stopped working in her mid 70s and has since retired, devoting her life to serving God.
Dressed in a deep green dress accessorised with a gold brooch, and silver bracelet on her hand, Soobagia sat comfortably in the quaint home she shares with her grandson and his wife at Phoenix Park. Although her hearing and eyesight are diminishing, Soobagia said longevity ran in her family; her mother lived to 112 and grandmother to 115.
Soobagia does not have diabetes, a popular lifestyle disease with which all her surviving children are afflicted. She said she does not consume much food–around two meals a day, and an occasional piece of meat. Kamla Sarran, 50, her granddaughter, said Soobagia always spoke about growing up and her life on the sugar estate and the hard work labourers had to undertake in order to earn a living while struggling to educate their children so they would not have to undergo the same fate.
Kamla said her grandmother was always content with whatever she had and was a straightforward person who even at her age tolerated little nonsense. Nisha Lalla, 40, another granddaughter, said she would like to see more people come and talk with her grandmother so she could share her memories about growing up in T&T during the colonial era, seeing the birth of the nation in 1962.
She said Soobagia suffered and survived two heart attacks, in 2005 and 2008. Soobagia, who has to take drugs for her heart condition and also suffers from high blood pressure, is still active and able to do some minor chores. She even made it to the polling booth on May 24 to cast her vote to put the People's Partnership in power.
Lalla said the elderly can still contribute to the development of society once programmes that involved the utilisation of their skills were formulated.
Lalla added that she would like Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh, the Minister of the People and Social Development, to pay a visit to her grandmother, just to share some memories. Soobagia gives thanks and praise to God every day she lives. A devoted Hindu since birth, she prays and gives her offering of water and flowers at the foot of the jhandi in her front yard every Friday when she fasts.
Lalla said every day Soobagia lights a deya by the photos of the Hindu Gods Lakshmi and Saraswati in her bedroom. Lalla said family members planned to cook dinner and share cake and ice cream with Soobagia, who can still enjoy eating real sugar and a real cake.
Lalla said she was looking forward to seeing her grandmother blow out the candles. She stopped working in her mid-70s and has since retired, devoting her life to serving God.
