Pellau Magazine

Her journey from India across the Kala Pani (the ocean) to the distant shores of Trinidad began 105 years ago when she was just three years old, and today, Soogaree Jattan, considered to be the oldest living indentureship survivor celebrates her 108th birthday.

Still going strong despite her age, Jattan, a strict vegetarian who stands at a little over four feet in height, appears to be in good health.

Her caregiver said she has no illness, and is not on any medication. Jattan has a problem with her hearing; to get her attention one has to talk close to her right ear. She also admits to having arthritis pain in her legs, brought about, no doubt, by her years of toiling on the sugar cane estates of Brechin Castle and Tarouba during the indentureship period which lasted from 1845 to 1917. Jattan would have arrived in Trinidad at the turn of the last century in 1904.

The petite centenarian walks with the aid of a cane, bathes and feeds herself and occasionally takes a walk along Sandford Street, California where she lives with her caregiver, who did not want to be named. Jattan's favourite meal is sada roti and tomato choka.

She is a mother of five children, but one of them, a daughter died some time ago. She is a grandmother, great grandmother and possibly a great, great grandmother to many. One of her sons, Dhanraj Jattan, is said to be a doctor in the United States.

In 2008, Jattan, then 104, was presented with the National Republic Day Award for her longstanding contribution to national development. The presentation ceremony was held on Republic Day (September 24) at the California Hindu Temple, located on Sandford Street, California a stone's throw from her home. The award ceremony was hosted by the non-governmental organisation Citizens for a Better Trinidad and Tobago (CBTT) headed by Harrack Balramsingh.

She has also received awards for community service. When Newsday visited Jattan yesterday, she was sitting on a chair in her living room, in the company of her caregiver, looking at television. Her caregiver said she would often ask her questions about the characters on the show.

> from newsday.co.tt http://newsday.co.tt/news/0,160941.html
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