Milkha Singh, popularly known as the Flying Sikh of India, passed away aged 91 on Friday (18) night after fighting a long battle with Covid-19. Singh met his wife Nirmal Saini in Ceylon in 1955
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Milkha Singh with his wife Nirmal Kaur[/caption]
MILKHA SINGH
Personal information
Nickname: The Flying Sikh
Nationality: Indian
Born: 20 November 1929
Place of Birth: Govindpura, Punjab, British India
Died: 18 June 2021 (aged 91) in Chandigarh, India
Occupation: Athlete
Sport: Track and field
Event: Sprinting (mainly 200 and 400 m)
Employer: Formerly of the Indian Army and Govt. of Punjab
Medals:
National Games of India
Gold medal - 1958 Cuttack in 200 m
Gold medal - 1958 Cuttack in 400 m
Silver medal - 1964 Calcutta in 400 m
British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Gold medal - at 1958 Cardiff in 440 yards
Asian Games
Gold medal - at 1958 Tokyo in 200 m
Gold medal - at 1958 Tokyo in 400 m
Gold medal - at 1962 Jakarta 400 m
Gold medal - at 1962 Jakarta in 4x400 m relay
Olympic representation
1956 in Melbourne
1960 in Rome
1964 in Tokyo
Messages of condolences
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Milkha Singh meets Virat Kohli[/caption]
* In the passing away of Shri Milkha Singh Ji, we have lost a colossal sportsperson, who captured the nation’s imagination and had a special place in the hearts of countless Indians. His inspiring personality endeared himself to millions. Anguished by his passing away.
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
* A legacy that inspired a whole nation to aim for excellence. To never give up and chase your dreams. Rest in Peace Milkha Singh ji. You will never be forgotten.
- Virat Kohli
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Milkha Singh practising at the National Stadium in Delhi in this undated photograph from The Hindu[/caption]
Milkha Singh, also known as The Flying Sikh, was an Indian track and field sprinter who was introduced to the sport while serving in the Indian Army.
He is the only athlete to win gold at 400 metres at the Asian Games as well as the Commonwealth Games. He also won gold medals in the 1958 and 1962 Asian Games.
Three Olympics and Rome
Milkha represented India in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, 1960 Rome, and 1964 Tokyo. He was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honour, in recognition of his sporting achievements.
The race for which Singh was best remembered is his fourth-place finish in the 400 metres final at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games, which he had entered as one of the favourites.
He led the race till the 200m mark before easing off, allowing others to pass him. Various records were broken in the race, which required a photo-finish and saw American Otis Davis being declared the winner by one-hundredth of a second over German Carl Kaufmann.
Life as an orphan
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In September 2017, Singh’s wax statue, created by sculptors of Madame Tussauds in London, was unveiled at Chandigarh[/caption]
From beginnings that saw him orphaned and displaced during the Partition of India, Singh has become a sporting icon in his country. In 2008, journalist Rohit Brijnath described Singh as “the finest athlete India has ever produced”.
Milkha Singh was born on 20 November 1929. He was born in a Sikh family of Rathore Rajput origin. His birthplace was Govindpura, a village 10 km from Muzaffargarh City in Punjab Province, British India (now Muzaffargarh District in Pakistan).
He was one of 15 siblings, eight of whom died before the Partition of India. He was orphaned during the Partition when his parents, a brother and two sisters were killed in the violence that ensued. He witnessed these killings.
Becoming a bandit?
Escaping the troubles in Punjab, where killings of Hindus and Sikhs were continuing, by moving to Delhi, India, in 1947, Singh lived for a short time with the family of his married sister and was briefly imprisoned at Tihar jail for travelling on a train without a ticket.
His sister, Ishvar, sold some jewellery to obtain his release. He spent some time at a refugee camp in Purana Qila and at a resettlement colony in Shahdara, both in Delhi. Singh became disenchanted with his life and considered becoming a dacoit or banditry but was instead persuaded by one of his brothers, Malkhan, to attempt recruitment to the Indian Army.
Start of athletics
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Milkha Singh joined Indian army in 1951. Here, Singh in military uniform with the then Indian Prime Minister Jawharlal Nehru[/caption]
He successfully gained entrance on his fourth attempt, in 1951, and while stationed at the Electrical Mechanical Engineering Centre in Secunderabad, he was introduced to athletics.
He had run the 10 km distance to and from school as a child and was selected by the army for special training in athletics after finishing sixth in a compulsory cross-country run for new recruits.
Singh has acknowledged how the army introduced him to sport, saying that “I came from a remote village. I didn’t know what running was, or the Olympics”.
1960 shoes and charity
All of Singh’s medals have been donated to the nation. They were displayed at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi and later moved to a sports museum in Patiala, where a pair of running shoes that he wore in Rome are also displayed.
In 2012, he donated the Adidas shoes that he had worn in the 1960 400 m final to be sold in a charity auction organised by actor Rahul Bose.
Demise
Singh was admitted to the intensive care unit at Fortis Hospital in Mohali on 24 May 2021 with pneumonia caused by Covid-19. His condition was, for a while, described as stable, but he died on 18 June 2021 at 11.30 p.m. in Chandigarh.
His wife, Nirmal Saini, had died a few days earlier on 13 June 2021, also due to Covid-19. Singh was laid on his funeral pyre with a photo of his wife in his hands.
Media and popular culture
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Milkha Singh and his daughter Sonia Sanwalka co-wrote his autobiography, The Race of My Life, in 2013[/caption]
Singh and his daughter Sonia Sanwalka co-wrote his autobiography titled The Race of My Life. It was published in 2013. The book inspired Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, a 2013 biographical film of Singh’s life.
The film was directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and stars Farhan Akhtar in the lead role as Milkha Singh, with Divya Dutta and Sonam Kapoor in the lead roles.
Film widely acclaimed
The film was widely acclaimed in India and won awards including the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment at the National Film Awards, and five awards at the International Indian Film Academy Awards in 2014.
The film made over 100 crores of Indian rupees. Singh sold the movie 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 sportspeople.
In September 2017, Singh’s wax statue – created by sculptors of Madame Tussauds in London – was unveiled at Chandigarh. It depicts Singh in running posture during his victorious run at the 1958 Commonwealth Games. The statue is placed at Madame Tussauds museum in New Delhi, India.
Personal life
Singh met Nirmal Saini nee Kaur, a former Captain of the Indian women’s volleyball team in Ceylon in 1955. They married in 1962 and had three daughters and a son, the renowned golfer Jeev Milkha Singh.
In 1999, they adopted a seven-year-old son named Havildar Bikram Singh, who had died in the Battle of Tiger Hill, which was waged between Indian and Pakistan armies in 1999.
Dying five days after wife’s demise
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Milkha Singh’s biopic Bhaag Milkha Bhaag was widely acclaimed in India winning many prestigious awards[/caption]
Milkha Singh passed away aged 91 on Friday (18) night after fighting a long battle with Covid-19. He breathed his last at PGIMER or Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, which was formerly the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research or PGIMER.
Sinch had been unwell for quite some time. He was also taken to the hospital a couple of weeks back.
The ace athlete succumbed to Covid-19 five days after his wife Nirmal Kaur passed away. Kaur also contracted the disease last month and was battling the dreaded infection with a lot of courage, media reports that emerged from India revealed.
“The Milkha family lost its backbone today. Mom taught us to be humble and be good human beings above everything else. We can never thank her enough for everything she did for us and the unconditional love she showered… every day. Thank you all for the prayers and kind messages!,” tweeted their son Jeev Mikha Singh yesterday (20).
Long-standing Indo record
Mikha Singh won four Asian Games gold medals in his illustrious career. His medals include the 200 m and 400 m wins in the 1956 Asian Games and then 400 m and 4x400 m relay in the 1962 edition.
The biggest moment of his career came when he missed a podium finish by a whisker in the 1960 Rome Olympics where he finished fourth in the 400 m final. Singh’s then-national record timing of 45.6 seconds at Rome was broken by Paramjeet Singh 33 years later in 1998.
The legendary athlete is survived by three daughters Dr. Mona Singh, Aleeza Grover, Sonia Sanwalka, and son Jeev Milkha Singh.
Amitabh remembers Milkha Singh
Superstar Amitabh Bachchan took to Twitter over the weekend remembering legendary sprinter Milkha Singh. He shared a picture of the last page of Milkha Singh’s autobiography The Race of My Life and wrote, “An inspiration for all.”
The page shared by Bachchan reads, “My final words would be: life as a sportsperson is hard, and there will certainly be times when you might be tempted to quit or rake shortcuts - but remember there are no shortcuts to success. At such times you should try and derive inspiration from this Urdu couplet, which is translated into English as ‘Cos a seed has to become one with the dust to sprout and blossom into flower’,”
Cremated with full state honours
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Milkha Singh’s funeral was held at the cremation ground at Matka Chowk in Chandigarh under state patronage[/caption]
Tributes have been pouring in for legendary Indian athlete Milkha Singh who died on Friday after a month-long battle with Covid-19. Milkha breathed his last at 11.30 p.m. on Friday (18).
Milkha was admitted in the ICU of Covid-19 Hospital of PGIMER on 3 June and was treated for Covid there till 13 June when he had been tested negative.
“However, due to post-Covid complications, he (Milkha) was shifted out of Covid Hospital to medical ICU. But despite best of the efforts by the medical team, Milkha Singh could not be retrieved from his critical condition,” said Ashok Kumar, official spokesperson for the PGIMER.
Indo cricket team mourns
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Singh (extreme left) is best remembered for his fourth-place finish in the 400 m final at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games, which he had entered as one of the favourites[/caption]
“It is with extreme sadness that we would like to inform you that Milkha Singh Ji passed away at 11.30 p.m. on the 18th of June 2021. He fought hard but God has his ways and it was perhaps true love and companionship that both our mother Nirmal ji and now dad have passed away in a matter of five days. We are deeply indebted to the doctors at PGI for their valiant efforts and the love and prayers we received from across the world and from yourselves,” read a statement from the family.
Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator Singh Badnore, and Haryana Sports Minister Sandeep Singh were among those present in the last rites of the former sprinter, which were performed at the cremation ground at Matka Chowk in Chandigarh
The Indian cricket team wore black-arm bands to pay their tribute to Milkha Singh in the World Test Championship final against New Zealand on Saturday (19).