radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
Yussuf Mohamed is 105 years old but he can still make his own breakfast, exercise daily and even runs his family business, offering tractor parts for sale.
Mohamed celebrated his birthday with his four children and other relatives at his Delhi Road, Fyzabad home yesterday.
Smiling broadly while he cut his birthday cake, Mohamed revealed that the secret to his longevity is to never worry over anything.
“For people to live longer, remember do not worry over anything. Just overlook everything and remember that life has to go on, so why worry?” Mohamed said.
Born in the oil town of Fyzabad in 1917, Mohamed said he lived through the Labour Riots and World War II.
His first job was as a teacher but he recalled how he abandoned that career when he was asked to convert to Christianity. As a devout Muslim, Mohamed said he became a monitor after attending seventh grade and then started attending the Canadian Mission School.
“I wrote two teachers’ exams and then when I was about to go to write a third exam at Naparima College, they told me that I had to be a Christian. I came back home and told my father and he said never return to that place,” Mohamed said.
He later joined the Constabulary and became a police officer.
“I worked as police in Port-of- Spain and then I gave that up and went to work in the oilfield for 17 and a half years as a secretary. At that time, ladies were not secretaries. Later, I gave that up too and went into the land business, selling and buying land,” Mohamed said.
Mohamed said he attended Dudley Commercial School and became qualified in commerce.
This led to another investment and Mohammed opened up a business selling parts for heavy equipment.
“I am the manager of my business and I sit there and conduct my business, make prices and all that sort of things,” he said.
Collective and sharp, Mohamed said he was thankful he has no ailments and was still strong enough to exercise.
Recalling the days when he went to school bare feet in khaki shorts and a shirt, Mohamed said his secret to life is to never worry.
He said he still held a passion for policing, remembering how he married his first wife some time after he almost charged her for towing someone on a bike while on their way to church.
“People are brave now. In my time when people see a policeman, they were afraid. Today, people don’t fraid nobody.
I still have my love for that profession. I went to St James Barracks and trained and I retired as a corporal. I locked up a few people, shot at people but I never kill anybody,” he recalled.
Mohamed said his four children were all alive but regrettably he outlived both wives.
Now, he spends his days eating healthy, exercising and keeping active in the business.
“I take some exercise first thing in the morning. I raise my legs, get up and bend. I do that 16 times. I get and make my own breakfast. I have a green salad and a boiled egg in the mornings, and one boiled and one banana for lunch. My son brings me a plate of food every evening,” Mohamed said.
He has no ailments and is thankful that he sleeps peacefully every night.
Asked what was his birthday wish, Mohamed said, “Well I want to keep on living on. We all have to die but when death comes, I don’t want to be there when it happens.”
