The 113-year-old Indian is most likely the oldest dwarf in the world. She is much older than the current record holder, enrolled in the Guinness Book.
According to state pension records, Zeenat Bi of Bhopal is 101 years old, but the woman herself claims that this is a mistake and she is already 113 years old. But even with this "mistake" 101-year-old Zeenat is much older than the dwarf from the Guinness Book, who is 74 years old.
Zeenat is only 3 feet (91 cm) tall and is a very determined little grandmother. She has a list of things to do before she dies. This includes seeing the Bollywood star Salman Khan and performing the Hajj to Mecca.
According to Zeenat, she still remembers India during the British rule and when the Indian prince Nawab had great influence in the country. If she is really 113, she was born during the reign of Queen Victoria.
“I’m so old that I remember how the city around me was rapidly changing,” says Zeenat. “During the British rule there was almost a jungle here, trees were everywhere. I remember the first time English bread was brought to us and people behaved as if they hadn't eaten anything for a long time.
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Zeenat Bi Bhopal outlived all members of her family, and she herself was never married because of her small stature. Her only source of income is an old-age pension of Rs 275 (about £ 3.7) a month.
- All that was given to me was a bed from the former chief minister Uma Bharti. He also ordered to send me 2,500 rupees a month, but this has long been forgotten.
Zeenat's grandmother's guardian, Abrar Muhammad Khan, says that in the current government no one remembers or cares about the old dwarf. She is sometimes used to show guests as a curiosity, but no one cares how she lives.
Zinat has cataracts and a lack of calcium in his bones, and there are only three teeth left in his mouth. For 20 years now she has been living in Khan's house with his family as a grandmother. According to Khan, she is considered an old relative, respected and not allowed to do even small housework.
Zeenat's favorite addiction is chewing paan (a type of betel nut with Areco nuts and tobacco). As the woman admits, she can starve, but she cannot do without her paan.