Member-only story
My grandfather’s long, healthy life
Lifestyle factors that may have contributed
My grandfather was born in 1910. He lived to 92 years old. Even though he was born and lived in India, a third world country at the time. But he was a Brahmin, and that makes a difference. But, he was also over 6 feet tall. And shorter people do live longer. Grandfather beat those odds, anyway.
The reason it helps to be a Brahmin in a place like India — thanks to the caste system — which I’m not a fan of, BTW — Grandfather had some advantages, just like upper-middle class people in the United States will tend to live longer than working-class people.
Genes of course also play a part in this. Both my mother’s parents lived to be over 90 despite being from India which has a life expectancy of less than 70 years. Back in 1960, it only had a life expectancy of 40! On the other hand, my father’s parents also lived to ripe old ages, but Dad died relatively young. I think stress killed him.
One thing Grandfather had going for him — he wasn’t stress prone.
And it’s not like he lived a sheltered life — in fact, as a young man, he was part of Mahatma Gandhi’s freedom movement. He was actually jailed by the British and had his knees busted. During the early years of his marriage, he traveled across the country to remote…
