NOT a whole lot of people in Guyana have lived to age 65, but Phulmattie Rup and her husband Rup (his only name) have been married for 65 years, and are still going strong.At 83, Phulmattie is very active for her age; while her husband, who is 91, is also in good health. They both reside in the village of La Bagatelle, in the Pomeroon River.

Phulmattie told the Guyana Chronicle that she became wedded at age 18, in an arranged marriage to her husband, who was then 26.
Rup was in cheerful spirits when this publication visited his home, and while his wife did most of the talking, he at times interjected during the interview to seek or give clarification.

Phulmattie, who appeared to be the more active of the two, related that her mother came to Guyana from India at age five, and worked on the sugar plantations on the Essequibo Coast. According to the humble elderly woman, she was born in the Pomeroon.

Both of Rup’s parents were from the Essequibo Coast, where he was born. On September 23, 1951, Phulmattie and Rup became married according to Hindu rites, and their wonderful marriage has produced 13 children — 10 boys and three girls.

With a sad look on her face, Phulmattie related that two of her sons have since passed on, but she has managed to maintain contact with all of her surviving children.

“Not all of them live in Guyana,” she told the Guyana Chronicle, noting that two reside in the United States and one in Canada.
“They would come and give we a little small piece, and we are thankful for that. All my children visit me, and I am really happy when I see them,” Phulmattie said, her face lighting up with a bright smile.

In the early days, she related, primary school education was a “big thing”, and through perseverance with her husband, she managed to educate all of her children. Today, she proudly said, her children are employed as school teachers, sanitary officer, Justice of the Peace, landscaper, economist, joiner, and farmers.

Phulmattie was herself a farmer in her younger days, and later leant tailoring from her husband, who was a tailor by profession.

“In my younger days things were not easy, but after I started getting children, life became different. I had to take care of the children, work in the farm, and help my husband with his tailoring. I learnt to sew from pants to wedding dress. My husband also worked very hard. When he was not sewing, he was in the farm. It was hard work to raise the children and educate them,” she said.

They have both endured, and today they are happy in the twilight of their lives. Phulmattie credits her longevity to her undying faith in God; contentedness; simplicity; and pure love for her neighbours, friends and family.

“I never envy or covet (anything belonging to) my neighbour. I show them kindness and love. I never bad talk them, and I have no enemy. I believe that when people get into trouble, they must have done something to offend the Lord,” she said.

Quite interestingly, while Phulmattie was raised as a Hindu, she has decided not to identify herself by any religion, but instead by all the “good things” common in Islam, Hinduism and Christianity.

She told this newspaper that “God is one” and He listens to those who pray to Him with a clean heart.

Phulmattie also does massage therapy, a skill she developed massaging her children and grandchildren, and she also used to deliver babies.

These two elderly, simple, down-to-earth folks told the Guyana Chronicle that they eat less meat and fish, which helps them to each maintain a healthy body and mind. They suffer from no known illness, and according to Phulmattie, they were born for each other.

Nowadays, they take life one day at a time, and count all their little blessings acquired along the way.