Milkha Singh

right|thumb| Milkha Singh, The Flying Sikh Milkha Singh (birthdate, 20th Nov 1929 – 18 June 2021) with the sobriquet The Flying Sikh, is a former Indian track and field sprinter. His career in track sports started in the Indian Army. As of 2013, he is the only Indian male athlete to win an individual athletics gold medal at a Commonwealth Games. He represented India in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Quotes Our entire village of Gobindpur Kot had been massacred, as the elders had taken a collective decision not to convert to Islam as they had been asked to. Among those killed were my parents and two of my sisters. My elder brother survived; a sepoy in the British army, he was posted at Multan. Two of my other sisters were married and lived elsewhere. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-23241269 Flying Sikh': Indian sprinter Milkha Singh biopic set for release 12 July 2013 13 December 2013 BBC My most enduring memory of that year is not the birth of India and Pakistan. I could not even comprehend what was happening. As a teenager from a backward village in Pakistan, I had never seen a cycle, car or train. I was completely bewildered at the turn of events. All that mattered was how to get my next meal, usually a roti and an onion. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-23241269 Flying Sikh': Indian sprinter Milkha Singh biopic set for release 12 July 2013 13 December 2013 BBC I would not stop till I had filled up a bucket with my sweat. I would push myself so much that in the end I would collapse and I would have to be admitted to hospital, I would pray to God to save me, promise that I would be more careful in future. And then I would do it all over again. A BBC quote in Flying Sikh': Indian sprinter Milkha Singh biopic set for release." The track, to me, was like an open book, in which I could read the meaning and purpose of life. I revered it like I would the sanctum sanctorum in a temple, where the deity resided and before whom I would humbly prostrate myself as a devotee. To keep myself steadfast to my goal, I renounced all pleasures and distractions, to keep myself fit and healthy, and dedicated my life to the ground where I could practice and run. Running had thus become my God, my religion and my beloved, http://www.deccanherald.com/content/344118/stuff-legend-athlete-milkha-singh039s.html Stuff for legend: Athlete Milkha Singh's autobiography 11 July 2013 13 December 2013 Deccan herald I was moved to tears by the thought that from being nobody the night before, I had become somebody. While at the EME Army center in 1951 in the cross country race he was declared 6 in the top 10 who among the 500 who ran. Quoted in http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-sports/flying-sikh-takes-a-nostalgic-jog-down-memory-lane/article3285904.ece ‘Flying Sikh' takes a nostalgic jog down memory lane 6 April 2012 13 December 2013 The Hindu Our American coach, Dr. [Arthur W] Howard, had accompanied the Indian team [to Cardiff] ….Because of Dr. Howard's motivation and advice, I won heat after heat and effortlessly reached the finals. http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?282698 Milkha At Midnight 13 December 2013 publisher+Outlook India He emphasized that I must maintain my speed for the first 300 metres, and then give it my all in the last 100 metres. He said that if I ran the first 300 metres at full speed, Spence would do the same, although that was not his running strategy. At the 1958 Commonwealth Games, Milkha describes how Dr. Howard, the American coach built the strategy to outrace his biggest threat http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?282698 Milkha At Midnight 13 December 2013 publisher+Outlook India Discipline, hard work, will power....My experience made me so hard that I wasn't even scared of death." But one story reflects his desire clearest. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7532626.stm The 'Flying Sikh' remembers Rohit Brijnath 30 July 2008 12 July 2013 BBC News The Race of My Life: An Autobiography Milkha Singh (2013) Sanwalka Soina The Race of My Life: An Autobiography Milkha Singh http://books.google.com/books?id=-ZNfAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT1 August 2013 Rupa 978-81-291-2910-9 1– When I reflect upon my life, I can clearly see how my passion for running has dominated my life. The images that flash through my mind are those running....running…running… Sprinting from one shady patch to another to escape the blistering heat of the sun on my journey to schoolFelling the massacre on that fearsome night when most of my family was slaughtered racing trains for funoutrunning the police when I was caught stealing in Shahdraleaving every one behind in my first race as an army jawan so that I could get an extra glass of milksurging past my competitors in Tokyo when I was declared Asia’s best athleteRunning in Pakistan and being hailed as "The Flying Sikh". Each of these moments brings back bitter sweet memories as they represent the different stages of my life, a life that has been kept afloat by my intense determination to triumph in my chosen vocation You can achieve anything in life. It just depends on how desperate you are to achieve it. External links Category:Sportspeople from India Category:Sikhs Category:Track and field athletes Category:1929 births Category:2021 deaths Category:Punjabi people