Mangaluru : Ivy Mary Mathias, a resident of Falnir in the City, will turn a 100 years old on Wednesday – a rare occasion, at a time when octogenarians are hardly found in the port city.

Born on December 9, 1915, Ivy, a spinster, has spent most of her life time educating women and helping empower them in a big way. One of the earliest identified members of ‘Mathias Prabhus’ – a family hailing from Belman – Ivy was born to Eusebius Piedade Mathias and Julia Mascarenhas. Ivy was the last of seven children, of whom three survived to be adults.

Ivy Mathias, along with her near and dear, lived in the ancestral home near what is now Balmatta New Road. The mansion was seen till late 1980s, when she moved to her present apartment. She very joyfully recalls her primary schooling at St Mary’s that functioned under the Milagres Church in ‘those days’. She then went on like most people of her time to the first and famous women’s college in South India, St Agnes, at Bendoor, where she graduated with a degree in Arts.

She later was trained to teach at St Anne’s, which is, today, a great old education hub.

Ivy was a dedicated teacher, first in Nagpur at ‘Providence’. It was the norm, then, that Mangaloreans went outside to make a life. With her mind set on uplifting the needy, marriage was always on the back burner. Then, she did a long spell of teaching senior classes at popular Loretto School in Calcutta. Ivy also did a spell in Karachi, which was then part of British India, before Independence in 1947. She always kept in touch with Mangalore and it’s progress through many of her relatives.

Ivy Mary went to the famous Milagres Church regularly and was an icon – she still is.

“Ivy is such a pleasant and easy person that she can live many years more”, quips a senior lady Tilly Peris, who has known her for long. Her devotion to her beliefs is paramount, she always prayed earnestly and wished for everyone to be happy and good. Also, she got stressed if she saw injustice and unkindness. Not too long ago, she used to be up before 5 am and engaged herself in ‘yoga’ after firmly bolting the door.

Asked how she felt, “Never better”, she replied. She said she used to have a few ailments like mild giddiness, unsteady sugar levels, but, at present, she seems to have outgrown all those and now, apart from the normal pains of age, is far better than many people much younger than her.

Reading, gardening, art work and embroidery were her forte and she was always very neat and tidy. For health, she regularly ate fresh peeled garlic and regularly took local ‘herbal bitters’ called ‘Keeraithe Kaddi’, which she grew in her own garden for long.
Quite interestingly, Ivy detested vegetables and hardly ate any. Her favourites are all kinds of sea foods, meats, sweets, chocolates and to top it all, ice cream. Her food intake is good and she has just normal food like most people, eating on her own.

She is very fond of Western pop music. Her collection of Jim Reeves, Cliff Richard, Elvis Presley are evident of her taste. As of today, she is very keen on watching television, music, soaps and news with good attention and grasp.

Her favourites also are religious channels and she is very fond of watching religious ceremonies. She cannot be counted as an old foggy or invalid by any measure and, at 100, is a pleasant person to meet and exchange ideas with. Ivy remains a very alert centurion of prime value to society at large and women’s empowerment too. December 9, 2015 is sure a red letter day for this grand old lady.