“Humans have long been reigning at the top of the food chain – it is now time to extend this victory into the realm of longevity. We must be the species to outlive all others!”

—Sam Adettiwar

While some may respond with scepticism to my claim, this is the only way forward for the race of Mahatmans that our philosophy seeks to build. This Mahatman longevity is built on the foundation of productivity and the two feed off from each other. Therefore, a productive lifestyle enables a person to live longer, which in turn helps him or her to be more productive. What use is a long life if it is merely vegetative – if the old person is just content to eat, mate, excrete just so that he can begin the routine all over again the next day.

Have you heard of the Japanese concept of IKIGAI (pronounced “Icky Guy”)? Simply put, it means a strong purpose – that which makes you jump out of bed every morning, raring to get to work. IKIGAI originated in the Japanese island of Okinawa, which is home to the largest population of centenarians in the world. IKIGAI gives a sense of clarity and purpose to life, which in turn has a direct correlation to longevity. The same concept has been practiced by people in Sardinia and the Nicoya Peninsula regions with large concentrations of hundred-year-olds.

In complete contrast to this traditional concept of a long life, Mahatman proposes that we make our lives as useful as possible – we keep working, studying, loving, giving, and essentially learning with all kinds of experiences. Such a productive life is bound to make us healthy in body and mind leading to greater longevity.

Do you think that all this is a mere fantasy?
Check out all the stupendous research carried out in the field of longevity. Massive advances in genetic engineering will soon prevent or reverse the ageing of cells while innovative 3D printers will create human organs loaded with living cells. In this way, people will soon be able to replace vital body organs with new parts without going the painstaking way of traditional organ transplants. The best part of such futuristic biotechnology is that you do not have to be old to live long but you can live the life of a 25 or 30-year-old for years and years. Indeed contemporary science has gone so far as to claim that by the year 2050, humans can become immortal.

With billion-dollar companies like Google sponsoring high-end anti-aging research, longevity is no longer a distant dream. Its project Calico has been focusing on how caloric intake influences overall health and aging in particular. There are already scientists like Valter Longo of the University of Southern California who have found the genes responsible for entropy or the change from order to disorder on the cellular level. When Longo removed these two genes, RAS2 and SCH9, the life of Baker’s Yeast were extended from 6 days to 10 weeks, which is equivalent to 800 human years2. Suddenly the Mahatman dream of living beyond 100 in a youthful and productive existence does not seem impossible anymore – does it?

The possibility of an immortal existence for now at least exists in the realm of extreme science. Nevertheless, what if I told you that there are newer lifestyles being explored, which could place longevity squarely within our own control. Harvard scholar David Sinclair who first came into prominence with his research on key cellular mechanisms responsible for vascular aging and its effects on muscle health promotes one such approach. His research found a way to successfully reverse this process in animals, thus opening up the direction to reverse vascular aging in humans too that is responsible for several age-related conditions, such as cardiac and neurological problems, muscle loss, impaired wound healing and overall frailty.

Based on years of research Sinclair outlines three levels of aging and thus advocates a three-pronged strategy to increase longevity. First, there are certain lifestyle changes like intensive exercise that can slow down the aging process. Next, there are drug regimens like supplements and anti-aging molecules that begin to stop aging, and finally there are experimental new procedures that may actually reverse aging once they are fully developed. In fact, Sinclair reveals that his mother – a former patient of lung cancer – prolonged her life with only one lung for 20 years by taking the molecules he gave her. Likewise, Sinclair has been giving his father such supplements for years and now the sprightly 79-year-old father continues to enjoy white-water rafting and mountaineering as his hobbies. The crux of Sinclair’s research is based on sirtuins, which are genes that tell enzymes to control the way a cell functions. According to Sinclair, sirtuins are activated by practices such as calorie restriction and extreme exercise as well as supplements with a high concentration of resveratrol, a compound found in grape skin.

I personally follow certain strategies to prolong life in good health based on Sinclair’s theory. This is based on the idea that when the body is faced with biological stress, organisms put most of their energy into maximizing their own health in order to survive. In other words, its repair mechanisms go into full drive, and as a result, the cells are rejuvenated. In order to put this theory in practice, I do several things like running until I am out of breath, staying hungry by occasional fasting, and my personal favorite, regular cold-water showers.

However, before everything else, we need to change our attitude toward aging. It should be considered a disease rather than being mystified and glorified – a disease that becomes easier to treat with each passing day. Therefore, in Mahatman, that day is not far when humans will live beyond 120 and I, for sure will be looking forward to that amazing time when humans can take their rightful place at the apex of the longevity chain!