ATTAPADI, INDIA, November 22, 2002: Mudda Moopan doesn’t know how old he is — not that he cares. What he does know is that he has married 23 times, fathered too many children to remember, has had the distinction of meeting both the first President of India and the latest, and that he still feels young. Mudda Moopan is the Adivasi King of the Karumbha tribe, Kerala, and an authority in tribal medicine. Locals say he is probably one of the oldest men in the world and estimate his age at over 120. Last year, a group of university students collected a sample of Moopan’s hair to work out his age and found the tribal chief had long crossed the century mark. Moopan doesn’t remember the names of all 23 wives; he can think of only 16. His current wife is in her early thirties and his youngest child is 11. So what is the secret behind Moopan’s longevity and virility? He claims the secret lies in a paste made of ten rare medicinal herbs that he takes three times daily, but he won’t reveal what the herbs are. However, that hasn’t prevented scientists from seeking his help. “He can identify more than 1,000 rare medicinal plants. He is a living legend — a treasure trove,” says a senior agricultural scientist at the Thrissur Agricultural University.
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