Know the secret of the world's oldest living man, Premsai Patel of Chhattisgarh

New Delhi: Fresh green vegetables, pulses and a strict vegetarian diet is the secret of longevity, says the world's oldest living man, 118 year old Premsai Patel, a retired government teacher, who lives in Tilhapatti village under Kartala block of Chhattisgarh's Korba district. If Guiness Book of World Records finds his claim to be true, he will be declared the oldest person alive, two years older than Misao Okawa, the current world record holder, who is aged 115 years. Premsai Patel was born on May 11, 1896, and this year in May he will be completing 118 years. The retired school teacher shows his Aadhaar card, which mentions his date of birth as May 11, 1896. Patel who starts his day by reciting verses from Ramcharitmanas, has followed a simple diet of of fresh green vegetables and pulses throughout his life.Patel says he hasn't touched meat or fish all his life and believes it invokes "demonic" desires. Patel has witnessed four generations of his family, which comprise 50 members, including his three sons, the eldest of them being 80 years of age, named Itwari. His other two sons are Maesh and Ganeshram. Premsai Patel remarried after the death of his first wife. According to son Mahesh, his father had no particular diet regime and he hardly felt ill. He still does all his work at home, he says. However, Madhu Sahu, statistics officer of Korba, says pre-2005 bith and death records are not available in Korba district. Previously the records were available in Bilaspur district, but the records of 1896 are just no available.Chief Medical Officer of Korba P R Kumbhkar says, the correct age of a person can be verified only through a bone test. The jury is still out. Patel is in the league of Japanese woman Misao Okawa, 115 years old, and the late Jeanne Louise Calment of France, whose lifespan was 122 years 164 days, the longest humanlife span confirmed so far, forget the Treta Yuga and Dwapar Yuga.