My aim is to run three more marathons. If that sounds a little odd, the reason is that I am 97 years old and three more marathons would make me 100! You see, I would love to complete a century on the planet.

I participated in the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon in November last year, and managed to walk 2 km at a stretch. This was the fifth time I was running this race. Life is all about going with the flow and taking each moment as it comes. It is not about giving up. I think this was instilled in me when I worked in the Army and fought in World War II.

I was born at a time when Pakistan and India were undivided, in Bannu, now in Pakistan. My father, who was an engineer in the Army, was stationed there at the time. We also lived in Parachinar, near the Afghanistan border. I was a Boy Scout and loved to trek in the mountains there. In 1932, father was transferred to Rawalpindi in Punjab and, every Sunday, a group of four to five of us would trek in the nearby woods. We would also bathe in the ponds and lakes there.

In November 1934, I joined an engineering technical training course at a government college in Lahore and, in our third year, four of us decided to cycle down to Srinagar. Jammu & Kashmir was then ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh, and the distance from Lahore to Jammu was 105 miles. We saw his palace and the canal from where electricity was generated. This was a month-long trip and we saw some stunning scenery and met some really good people. We cycled, trekked, visited some places on horseback, bathed in the cold waters of natural lakes and ate the famous rajma, guavas and almonds.

In 1939, I was compulsorily enrolled in the Army. War had been declared and I landed up in Meena Camp near Cairo. When I was diagnosed with a heart condition, I was sent to Alexandria to recuperate, from where I was dispatched to Scotland, and then East Africa, to further recuperate. Eventually, I returned home on a ship that was bringing back 50,000 prisoners to India.

After Partition, I served for quite a while in the Ministry of Rehabilitation. I trained people in mechanical engineering before I was promoted and sent to Bhopal to set up a workshop for technical training. A few years later, I was promoted again and was to be sent to Silchar to rehabilitate people from East Bengal. But I refused and came to Delhi. I started working in Sardar Nagar, in a mechanical engineering shop, and later joined Maruti.

I worked with Maruti till 1972, and then opened my own unit. Finally, in the 1990s, I gave it up and turned to homoeopathy after my wife passed away. I began treating friends and relatives and then more patients started coming to my flat in Siddharth Enclave. I always wanted to serve people and this was one way.

A year ago, my daughter convinced me to move into her home in Shivalik, Delhi. My routine is very simple. I wake up at 5.30 am, take a bath, say my prayers and practise yoga. Then I take a walk and can walk for 10-15 minutes at a stretch. I can still climb the stairs without any assistance. My daughter has given me a walking stick but I feel I can do without it. And that is entirely owing to God’s grace.

—Madan Swarup Sethi, Delhi

Photo: Harmony Archives
Featured in Harmony — Celebrate Age Magazine
February 2017