At 113, she votes for a spirited life

Velumbi, a voter in Pathanapuram, is arguably the oldest in Kerala to vote in a booth

The deep ridges running through the face stand testimony to her grand old age. Perhaps the oldest person in the State to cast her vote at a polling station, 113-year-old Velumbi is very strong-willed when it comes to exercising her franchise. A resident of rural Piravathur, in the Pathanapuram constituency, she made no exception on April 6 also and says she cannot remember a time when she skipped the trip. “I cast my vote in the last Lok Sabha election and the recent local body polls too,” she says. According to her voter’s ID and other records, Velumbi is 113 and though she was given the option as a senior citizen to vote at home, she turned it down. She insisted on voting on the polling day and cast her vote without any assistance at Piravathur Government UP School.