Able to walk unaided, the centenarian shrugged off assumptions about her age, proving that just because she was over 100 years old she needn't submit a postal vote.
Instead, she defied stereotypes and marched to her polling booth because, she says, this is how she's done it every year.
The election will determine whether the Nationalist Congress Party, an ideologically centrist organisation, will remain in power, or whether the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party will take charge.
Choosing a candidate in the Pune Municipal Corporation elections, the body that oversees the administration of Pune, Nalavade was steadfast in her belief that voting is something that should not be taken for granted.
“Nobody forced me to come here, it was my decision. For many decades, I have never missed voting during an election," she said in a report by The Indian Express.
"In fact, irrespective of age, every adult should step out and vote - ‘Aamhi naahi karnaar tari kon karnaar’ (If we will not do it, who will do it).”
The centenarian has been running a small stall in Kasba Peth, seven kilometers north of Bibvewadi, for over 70 years, selling flowers and prasad - a religious food offering, with her husband having passed away in the early 1940s.
Nalavade after submitting her vote. Source: Garima Mishra
"Initially, I opened a vegetable stall, but around 70 years ago, I started this flower shop outside the temple. And with the blessings of Lord Ganpati, it picked up and helped me raise my daughters,” Nalavade says.
Recent reports suggest that India has upwards of 27,000 centenarians, ranking fourth overall globally, but well below the average per capita ratio put forward by the United Nations of 0.62 per 100,000.
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