Muvattupuzha: Diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension may stalk people half his age, but Athirampuzha Esthappanos has managed to keep them all at bay. At 110, he remains remarkably healthy; a lifetime of hard work holds the secret to his extraordinary innings.

A native of Chelad near Kothamangalam who now lives with his youngest son at Mekkadambu in Muvattupuzha, Esthappanos is all set to celebrate the milestone on Sunday, with relatives and local residents joining in the festivities.

Born into a farming family at Chelad on Mithunam 20, 1091, in the Malayalam calendar, or July 4, 1917, according to his Aadhaar card, Esthappanos studied only up to Class IV before a life of hard work took over.

From yoking bullocks for paddy cultivation to tapping rubber, his days would begin at 4 am and stretch until dusk. That lifetime of backbreaking labour has been the mainstay of his remarkable health.

His diet has remained just as simple. For years, breakfast meant dried tapioca washed down with black tea. These days, however, he makes do with two boiled plantains and a cup of tea.Apart from some difficulty walking after a fall at home two years ago, Esthappanos has no major health problems.

Today, Esthappanos is the patriarch of a sprawling family of 10 children from two marriages, 12 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Of his surviving children, the eldest, Abraham, is 82, while the youngest, Thankachan, is 58. The eldest in the family’s fourth generation is now 26.

Family members are travelling from far and wide to join the birthday celebrations, including a granddaughter flying in from the United States for the occasion.