Milkha Singh, he of the swift foot, dogged determination and grit, gives his views on what makes ordinary mortals into champions and role models, says SD Thapliyal
He must have felt a strange bond with the sevenyear- old. The son of Havildar Bikram Singh, too, lost his father to violence from across the border — in the Battle of Tiger Hill in 1999. Just like Milkha Singh, who lost his parents to the violence that erupted on both sides of the border in 1947. So when Singh and his wife adopted the fatherless boy, Singh was probably trying to exorcise ghosts that have never really left him in all these years. Sometimes, the only way to leave sadness behind is to look beyond it.
Today, Singh has created a life for himself that he should be proud of. A former Indian track-and-field sprinter and one of the best athletes India has ever produced, he is a living legend of Indian sports. Singh has been inspiring generations to become the world beater in sports arena. He is also called the Flying Sikh — a title bequeathed to him by former President of Pakistan General Ayub Khan — after he defeated his arch rival Abdul Khaliq on Pakistani soil.
A refugee from Muzaffargarh in West Pakistan, Singh has seen the partition massacres of 1947, which took the lives of his parents. He was forced to live an orphan life, but destiny pointed him in the right direction — one he followed, no matter what the hurdles. He was the only Indian male athlete to win an individual athletics gold medal at Commonwealth Games until Vikas Gowda won the discus gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
BEYOND THE PAIN
He was born into a Sikh family in undivided (Punjab) India during pre-Independence days. He lost his parents, brothers and sisters during Partition. Orphaned, he moved to Delhi to live with his sister. “I have gone through a troubled childhood, have seen the horrors of the Partition in 1947. I could not continue my education, lost my family. At that time, I was clueless about my future,” says Singh.
Once he was imprisoned after being caught for travelling on a train without a ticket. He was released after his sister sold her jewellery to get him out. Aimless in his ambition, Singh even considered becoming a dacoit. His brother, however, convinced him to join the Indian Army, which he did in 1951. It was here that his talent as an athlete was nurtured. His first competitive event was a cross-country race and he finished sixth among 500 runners.
“By the grace of god I got an opportunity to join the Indian army. It nurtured my talent. I had the willpower and dedication to become a world-beater, and the army provided me with a platform to achieve these milestones,” says Singh, with gratitude.
Singh soon realised that he had the potential to become a world-class athlete; he was determined to become the best he could. He started training five hours daily, often running in difficult terrains such as the hills, the sands on the bank of rivers, and against a meter gauge train. His training was sometimes so intense that he would be sick with fatigue.
INTERNATIONAL ARENA
Singh was selected to represent India in the 200 m and 400 m races in the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. “I became an athlete in the army, but it was the 1956 Melbourne Olympics that made me realise my true potential of turning into a world-class players. I saw people were dying to get an autograph from world class players,” he says. After seeing such respect for those players among the people, Singh decided to give athletics his all. “I knew nothing about Olympics, tracks, studs, coaches, physio, and so on. I only got to know about the athletic world when I participated in the Olympic games,” he says.
Unfortunately, Singh was not experienced enough and could not go beyond the heat stages. A big turning point during his Melbourne trip was when he met the 400 m champion — Charles Jenkins — who inspired him to greater things and gave him advice about training methods, which changed his career forever.
He met Nirmal Kaur, a former captain of the Indian women’s volleyball team in Ceylon in 1955, and the couple married in 1962. They have three daughters and a son — golfer Jeev Milkha Singh.
THE MANY ACHIEVEMENTS
In 1958, Singh set records for the 200 m and 400 m in the National Games held at Cuttack, and also won gold medals in the same events at the Asian Games. He then won a gold medal in the 400 m (440 yards at that time) competition at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, with a time of 46.6 seconds. The latter achievement made him the first gold medalist at the Commonwealth games from Independent India.
His 200-400 double at the 1958 Tokyo Asian Games gave him global attention. That he went on to defend his 400 title in the Jakarta Asian Games four years later was a tribute to his longevity as well.
His national 400 m record stood for 38 years, and the Asian mark for 26 years. Many world-class athletes followed him, the most prominent being the versatile Gurbhachan Singh Randhawa, who came fifth in the 110 m hurdles final at the Tokyo Olympics (1964).
ROMAN DISAPPOINTMENT
The entire nation was expecting Singh to win his firstever individual Olympics medal for independent India. He didn’t make it. “The world felt if anyone could win a medal in the 400 m race in Rome Olympics, it was Milkha Singh, but it ended in disappointment. I could have done it in Rome but I lost the chance of creating history there,” Singh says, regret tingeing his voice.
He recounts the moments from that time like it happened yesterday. “Since it was a photo finish, the announcements were held up. The suspense was excruciating. But I knew what my fatal error was: After running perilously fast in lane five, I slowed down at 250 metres. I could not cover the lost ground after that and that cost me the race,” he adds.
His desire, thus, is to see an Indian sportsperson win an Olympic gold medal for the country. “I failed to win it in Rome Olympics in 1960. But I want to see an Indian athlete doing it,” says Singh.
THE FLYING SIKH
Singh had run many races but he got the title of Flying Sikh in Pakistan in 1960 at a track event he never wanted to contest, which was to be held in Pakistan. The past was like a fresh wound for Milkha and the Partition massacre still made him cringe. However, the then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru persuaded him to take part. “There were around 60,000 spectators at the Lahore stadium, including almost 20,000 burqa-clad women. When the race began Khaliq took an initial lead as he was a 100 m sprinter. My strength was my stamina and I overtook him after 150 yards and won the race by around seven yards with the timing 20.7 seconds, a new world record. After the race, General Ayub (the then Pakistan President) came up to me and said: ‘Milkha, you did not run, you flew,’” says Singh.
PRESENTLY SPEAKING
Singh is disappointed with the approach of Indian youth towards sports. He reiterates there is no short cut for success; only hard work pays: “That, along with dedication and a strong willpower have contributed to my success in the sports. No athlete today is doing what I did,” he feels, talking about the many days when he would be in bed from vomiting blood because he had practiced so hard. Singh feels the present day athletes lack dedication and that is why the standard of the Indian athletes is going down. National broadcaster Doordarshan had telecasted a serial based on the autobiography of Milkha Singh in early 1990. In 2013, Indian director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra made a blockbuster movie Bhaag Milkha Bhaag on his life. Singh sold the film rights for one rupee but inserted a clause stating that a share of the profits would be given to the Milkha Singh Charitable Trust. The Trust was founded in 2003 with the aim of assisting poor and needy sports people.