“Tell Jokes and Listen,” The World’s Longest-Married Couple Offers Advice For Young Relationships

Okay, we’ll admit it – when it comes to love, most of the Her.ie team are hopeless romantics. Therefore it goes without saying that we let out a collective “d’awww!” when we heard the following story.

Karam Chand and his wife Katari are living proof that happily ever after does actually exist for some couples. The pair, who are both over the ripe old age of 100, have been living in domestic bliss together for the past 87 years – making them the world’s longest married couple.

Amazing or what?

Karam and Katari’s relationship is definitely an inspiration and something for all the romantics out there to aspire to. But we’re not naïve, we know that marriage is a tough old business no matter how much you love the other person. So what’s Karam and Katari’s secret?

The Daily Mail reports that the pair credit looking after each other in every way possible as the key ingredient to their marriage.

“My trick is to make Katari laugh. I like to tell jokes and make her smile. Being funny is my way of being romantic,” said Karam.

“I’ve been told laughing makes you live longer… my wife is still alive so it must have worked! I love her so much and I want to spend another 80 years by her side,” he added.

What a charmer, eh ladies? The couple, who are originally from India but live in the UK now, ensure that they do small things for each other every single day in order to keep their romance alive and well.

Humour and taking care of your partner are the secrets to a happy life, say the couple

“When I was young I used to make him a nice meal every night. We are vegetarian so I bought lots of fresh vegetables and made sure he was eating healthy food,” said Katari, speaking to online dating website Zoosk.co.uk.

“Health is very important and I wanted to look after him so we could grow old together. Some would say it has worked!” she added.

Karam believes that spending plenty of time together is another thing that has helped their marriage to last over the decades.

Karam and Katari’s marriage has lasted almost five years longer than the current Guinness World Record holders and right now, the couple are in the process of getting confirmation from Guinness that they are the new record holders.

“In the past people used to listen. Now I don’t think people take the time to listen to each other properly. People seem too busy today with work, TV and other stuff going on around them,” said Karam.

“Relationships are about understand one another and listening to concerns and problems, so my advice to men and women is to listen to their partners, show interest in what they are saying and help them overcome any worries or problems they are going through,” he added.

Wise words indeed.