The Flying Sikh

Ramesh and Suresh live in Chandigarh. Both of them are good friends and athletes. They are state-level track and field sprinters.

Last week they got the chance to meet 'The Flying Sikh - Milkha Singh'. They were jogging in the park when they met their idol, Milkha Singh.

Milkha Singh was born in Govindpura, Muzaffargarh District, now in Pakistan. He had 14 siblings, but eight of them died before the Partition of India . His parents,one brother and two sisters were killed before his eyes in the violence that ensued during the partition.

He had joined the Indian army who had introduced him to the sport. He was promoted to the post of Junior commissioned officer for getting gold medal in the 1958 Asian games . He afterwards retired as Director of sports in Punjab Ministry of Education in 1998.

He was awarded the Padma Shri award for his gold win in 1958. All the medals won by Milkha Singh are now been displayed at a sports museum in Patiala, as he donated them to the nation.

He lives now in Chandigarh with his wife Nirmal Kaur and has three daughters and a son, Jeev Milkha Singh who is a golfer. In 1999 he adopted the son of sahid Havildar Bikram Singh who lost his life while fighting with the enemies in the Battle of Tiger Hill.

Amongst his many records, his performance in the 400 metres final at the 1960 Olympics Games is the best remembered. He had led the race till 200 metres mark but then became complacent and let others pass him. He finished fourth in the race but his 45.73 seconds  finishing time remained the national record for India for almost 40 years.

This race was very much appreciated and remembered for a long time by many admirers of the sport. Milkha Singh had won over Abdul Khaliq , the best Pakistani sprinter of that time, and missed the third place finish by a whisker. After this match, the then Pakistani general, and second president of Pakistan, General Ayub Khan called Milkha Singh as 'The Flying Sikh' in appreciation of his performance.

His wax statue was created by sculptors of Madame Tussauds in London and is placed at Madame Tussauds museum in New Delhi. He and his daughter co-wrote his autobiography named "The Race of my Life" in 2013. A Bollywood movie named 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' is inspired from this book. It was directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and has Farhan Akhtar playing the role of Milkha Singh . The film also stars Divya Dutta and Sonam Kapoor in important roles.

Now coming back to Ramesh and Suresh, both of them met their idol, Milkha Singh in the park. They interacted with him for sometime. Milkha Singh said to them not to lose focus from their goal. If they try hard with sincerity and dedication,then they are in the winning track. After getting such invaluable tips from their idol, they are all set to compete in the next National games. They practice regularly and are focusing in their game with full commitment.