JALANDHAR – The mortal remains of Nazar Singh (111), believed to be the oldest man in Europe, were consigned to flames at his native Fazilpur village in Jalandhar.
Nazar was born in 1904 in Jalandhar but had been settled in England since 1965. He came to Punjab on January 27 this year for a vacation but died after suffering two consecutive heart attacks at his village home.
Though the ceremony was simple, his family decorated the funeral vehicle with flowers and balloons. Since morning, his relatives, friends and other people from nearby villages were seen coming on tractors at his house.
While two of his sons Kartar Singh and Sohan Singh live in the village and look after the agriculture land, three of his other sons Chain Singh, Mohan Singh and Swaran Singh came from England to perform his last rites.
Though media across the world carried the news of his death prominently, no political leader or administrative official was seen at his cremation. “He had asked us to cremate him where we had cremated our mother in the village few years ago and also asked us to keep a bottle of wine with him during his funeral,” said Chain Singh.
He said as desired by him, they kept the bottle with him in the funeral pyre.
His children have offered people in the village to construct or upgrade a school or put up the village gate in the memory of their parents.
