Talk:Milkha Singh

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[edit] Life History

Milkha Singh can be described as one of the most extraordinary athletes of our time. Milkha Singh was a genius and a genius is never trained. Without any formal training, without any financial reward and without any emotional support Milkha Singh took on the greatest athletes of his time and proved himself as good if not better. The burst of speed with which he broke the previous Olympic Games record of 45.9 seconds in 400 meters is now a part of folklore in Punjab. The fairy tale is repeated as part of Punjab's rich heritage. Milkha is no less popular in India than Pele in Brazil and Maradona in Argentina.

Born at Layallpur, now in Pakistan in a Sikh Rajput family of modest means, on October 8, 1935, Milkha Singh shot into limelight during the National Games at Patiala in 1956. Two years later he shattered the 200 and 400 meters record in the National games at Cuttack. The same year he established new records in the 200 and 400 meters in the Asian games at Tokyo. He followed it up with a gold in the Commonwealth Games at Cardiff in 1958.

Milkha Singh is sad to find that his exploits and achievements have not gone so far to inspire the younger generation. He is critical of the young athletes who aspire to reach the top via short cut and refuse to sweat out in the field.

Milkha Singh is, at present, the Additional Director of Sports and Youth Programme, Education Department. Married to former international player, Nirmal, he has one son and three daughters. His son, Jeev Milkha Singh, is a top golfer and has represented India in the Beijing Asian Games in 1990.

Hardly anyone knows in India why Milkha Singh was so popular in the 1960 Rome Olympics. The moment he would enter the stadium, the people would cheer him most enthusiastically. Though Rome saw the assembly of top athletes, yet no athlete could draw as much response from the crowd as Milkha Singh.

The reason for Milkha Singh to be extremely popular among the people was his long hair and beard. People in Rome had not seen any athlete with a such a hair do. They thought the man was a saint, and wondered how a saint could run so fast! In addition to that none in Rome had any knowledge about Sikhism. people often came to Milkha Singh and asked him why he grew his hair that long. Who is a Sikh? What is Sikhism? They didn't know anything about the religion. Milkha Singh enlightened them as much as he could. Yet the people remained as curious as ever.

Besides, Milkha Singh had embarked on a European tour before landing in Rome. He had won a number of races en route Rome. Since he had made some of the top athletes lick the dust in a number of competitions, his popularity had spread far and wide even before he reached Rome. In the Olympics too Milkha Singh ran true to his form and ruined the reputation of some of the established stars. Almost all Sikh athletes and sportsmen tied a handkerchief on their hair since the 'patka' was unknown in those days. Milkha Singh's different headgear and his athletic exploits made him the darling of the crowd both on and off the track. Milkha Singh himself admits that he was popular because of being a Sikh.

Milkha Singh had conditioned himself to run two races in a day. This superiority of strength had enabled him to win a number of races in the world. However, this superiority did not stand him in good stead at Rome for the simple reason that there was a gap of two days between semifinal and final races. This made Milkha Singh nervous. He felt very dispirited and off-colour. A day before the race Milkha Singh felt disturbed. But at that time a Punjab minister - Mr Umrao Singh - who was the then president of the All-India Athletics Association, came into his room and took him out for fresh air. This eased the tension a bit and his mind was taken off the competition. The minister took him to some of the wonderful places of the city of Rome and later dropped him back at his hotel.

Though Milkha Singh was feeling normal the next day, luck did not help him a bit. While other top athletes got better lanes, Milkha Singh was placed in the fifth. The lot put a German athlete in the first lane, the American in the second, a Pole in the third and South African in the fourth while the second German athlete was placed in the sixth lane. According to Milkha's assessment, the German was the weakest of all the other athletes. Thus being in the fifth lane, Milkha could only see the second German athlete. Thus a weak athlete in front was no advantage.

Therefore, Milkha Singh took off the blocks with a great burst of speed, and managed to lead the pack within 200 metres. Worried that he was running at a dangerously fast speed, he thought of slowing down a bit. In a flash three runners passed him, he failed to erase the deficit of five or six yards in the last 100 meters. Since he found it impossible to catch up with the first two athletes, Milkha Singh tried to outpace South Africa's Melcolm Spence whom he had beaten in the Commonwealth Games. But as ill-luck would have it, Spence got himself into the first two runners and Milkha found himself unable to catch up with him. Almost all the first four athletes crossed the line one after another. It was a photo finish. The announcement was held up. When the film was washed and the results announced, the world of Milkha Singh lay shattered. In sheer despair Milkha Singh took to drinking to drown his disappointment. No matter how hard he tried he failed to remove the scar of defeat from his mind.

Two events stand out clear in the life of Milkha Singh. One the Partition when his parents were butchered. And two the defeat at Rome. It was after much persuasion that he took to athletics again. When an invitation came Milkha Singh's way to run in Pakistan, he was not enthusiastic about it. He hated the place for he had lost his parents and other relatives in a traumatic experience. However, he was persuaded to run against Asia's best runner, Abdul Khaliq of Pakistan. Khaliq was the best runner that Pakistan had produced and he had a string of victories in the 200 metres in Asia.

But as the 200 meters race began, Milkha Singh outpaced the Pakistani from the word 'go' and won in one of the most convincing manners. The people were wonder struck at the pace at which Milkha Singh had run the race. Pakistan President General Ayub Khan, who was himself present at the stadium, announced that Milkha had not run but had flown. It was during this race that Milkha Singh earned the title "Flying Sikh." The whole stadium was packed to capacity and the people had gathered to se the key contest between two of Asia's finest runners. So when the Indian runner breasted the tape, the 30,000 burqa-clad women uncovered their faces to have a clear view of the Sikh wonder athlete. Milkha Singh was taken to the VIP gallery and introduced to the Pakistan President.

Milkha Singh was awarded the prestigious 'Padam Shri' by the President of India in 1958 when he won the gold medal in the British and Commonwealth Games.

All medals and trophies won by Milkha Singh, including the running shoes with which he broke the world record, blazers and uniforms have been donated by him to the National Sports Museum at the Jawajarlal Nehu Stadium, New Delhi.

Milkha Singh has keen desire to witness an Indian athlete win a gold Medal in the Olympic Games, a target which just slipped away from his hand by slight error of judgement.

After retirement Milkha Singh wants to set up an athletic academy in or around Chandigarh so that he can end the drought of top athletes.