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• Sri Lanka's 93 year old twins want to be born together again

When love doubles

One wish  Not aware that her sister desired so, 93 year old Engo Nona said "What a blessing it is to be born together this way. My wish is that we are born together again and again." Twins should always stay together, they said, crying at the thought of the death of the Iranian-born twins,

Engo Nona and Rosalin with three generation daughter Soma, her son and grandchildren Roslin's husband Arthur: All Ceylon Wrestlign Champion in 1980 Photos by Gamini Wickremasinghe

Born just five minutes apart, these 93 year olds do not remember the day they were born. "we remember our father Haramanis Appuhamy and our mother Mitinona" said Roslin. Their memories may be fading, but the duo share a strong passion for food. "We love curd and honey, cakes, puddings and chocolates," laughs the duo. And there is nothing to stop them from eating their cares away.

Diabetes? Cholesterol? I ask them about these conditions that plague a larger section of people. But Roslin and Engo Nona laugh their hearts out. "We have never heard of these, even if we do, we don't have them," they said. And Roslin's daughter Soma Jayasinghe, an actress of a bygone era, nods in agreement. "Our grandmothers do not have any of these complications," she laughs.

The men

They hold hands and giggle like teenagers as they sit cuddled together on a couch reliving old times.

When asked about her husband, Roslin begins to blush. The family brings a black and white picture of a strong man. "This is Roslin's husband,." Points out Soma. And then Roslin begins to reveal the strongest characteristics of the man of her life. "He was a wrestler, a boxer. He was the All Ceylon Champion in 1935 and 1936,"she explains proudly about her husband Arthur Jayasinghe.

Roslin and Arthur together have five children; daughter Soma, Shelton, Upali, Hector, Lionel and Leslie.

Engo Nona  and her husband Robiel, who was into agriculture, have five children too, three daughters and two sons.

Engo Nona begins to cry. It is like a soft rain after sunshine and laughter. She begins to talk of the death of her daughter Pemawathie.  It is plain to see that the death of this young woman due to cancer has left lasting sorrow in Engo Nona. Twin sister Roslin moves closer with difficulty to comfort her crying sister, they wipe their tears away.

It cannot be explained how one feels the sorrow of another. It also cannot be explained how Engo Nona, who is in  Padukka  (about 20 km away from Roslin who lives in Piliyandala ), suffers from a rise in body temperature when her sister is ill. It is also difficult to explain why Engo Nona suffered from a skin eruption near her spine, identical to the eruption that Roslin was suffering from in the same region.

It is hard to explain many things when it comes to the indescribable unity and strong bonding that is visibly in this relationship.  "I remember the day Roslin was bitten by a snake," recalls Engo Nona. "I heard my sister's voice from a drain shrieking that she had been bitten by a snake.

I rushed to one drain and looked  -  there was neither a snake nor my sister. I ran to the other drain and there I saw my sister Roslin, she had truly been bitten by a snake. We got a snake Veda Mahattaya and I sat under a tree and cried till my sister got better. I will never forget that day however old I may get,' recalls,"  Engo Nona.

"Do you remeber the times we ate veralu together,' asks Roslin nudging her sister with all her might.  "Do you remember eating those teeny weeny sweets with a cumin seed inside?" asks Engo Nona in return. "Why, we bought gram with the 10 cents we got and bought the sweets with the balance" they chime. The twins speak of those times in which they could buy two and a half yards of cloth with Rs. 2  and still have money left to buy a jacket and a basket full of vegetables and fruit.

"Didn't we have the time of our lives when we were young!" asks Roslin. "You certainly did because you never did any work in the house, you just sat pretty" reminds  Engo Nona with fake anger.

Roslin recalls her days of romance and the day she got married. She says that her husband was from Kollupitiya and had come to see her because he had told a friend of his to look for a pretty bride for him.

"And when Arthur had arrived to see Roslin they had exchanged a few words and then Roslin had gone into the house. Just that very minute Engo Nona returned from the garden after a bath in the well, Arthur almost fainted," explains  Soma laughing. Then Arthur had aked the family how did that girl who went inside the house come after a bath that very minute.

Identity problem

"Then the family explained that we were twins and from that day Arthur had to look for that little defect in Roslin's small toe to find out whether it was Roslin or Engo Nona to whom he intended to whisper sweet nothings," says Roslin with a mischievous smile on her face.

Though the twins remember the loves of their lives, they do not remember much about their school. "How can you expect us to remember all that, our school was in the middle of a pol watte;" they say faking anger , winking at each other. Roslin and Engo Nona clearly remember the fun they had together but about school, they seem to have clearly wiped it all from their minds.

When asked what they attribute to their longevity, happiness and good health, Engo Nona said that one should also go to temple, take pansil and spend time in meditation. "The evil thoughts must go away," points out Engo Nona and  the duo nod in unison. The happy and healthy Engo Nona and Roslin speak enthusiastically about the chicken and the eggs that they have been having down the years. "These two cannot eat their lunch without chicken," laughs Soma.

"But we have never eaten beef or red meat all our life," stresses Engo Nona shuddering. "We never eat bread either. Why should we, we lived on farming land and all we ever had for our meals was brown rice and fresh water fish and fresh yams. What people eat today is poison!" said Engo.

The duo seem to be living their life to the fullest, enjoying the wonders of chocolates, puddings and fresh milk. "I can't wait to have my milk everyday," says Engo settling down as if expecting a glass of milk right now.

But what takes the cake of all these cravings is the amount of  perfume and powders that these 93 year olds use.

"You will not imagine how many bottles of perfumes these two can finish," said the family.

So much so that when any member of the family visits these great grand twins they know that the best gift to take is a bottle of  perfume. And meeting these 93 year old twins and being with them certainly leaves a fragrance of two lives lived to the fullest.

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