FlyingSikh Milkha Singh is no more with us. Let us know, how Milkha Singh traveledtill the Olympics by doing penance in the fire of partition. Milkha Singh'sparents, a real sister and two real brothers were killed in the tragic violenceof Partition. Milkha Singh had reached Delhi after fleeing from Pakistan.Stayed at his sister's house for a few days.
Afterthat he made the railway platform his home. He was jailed for being caughttraveling without a ticket. The same sister got her brother acquitted fromTihar by selling the shards of her hands. Disappointed with life, Milkha wantedto become a dacoit but at the behest of his brother Malkhan, he applied forrecruitment in the army. He got selected in the fourth time.
Asa soldier, he had to run a mandatory 5-mile run. The first ten visitors were tobe given training to run. After running half a mile, Milkha started feelingpain in his stomach and he sat down. But someone within him was saying – “Getup! You have to make it to the first ten!” Milkha remained at number six. Laterhis officer told him during training that he would be prepared for the 400meter race. Milkha asked - "How much does four hundred meters mean?"
"Around of the field" he was told. "an ROUND ! only! It'snothing." Milkha thought. Five years later in 1956, Milkha Singh wasrepresenting India in the Melbourne Olympics. There were a total of eight heatsin the 400 meter race. Milkha's number came in fifth. He finished last in theheat with a time of 48.9 seconds and was eliminated from the competition.Charles Jenkins of America won the gold medal by clocking 46.1 seconds in thefinal.
Atthe end of the competition, Milkha met Charles Jenkins with his broken Englishspeaking partner. Milkha wanted to know how Charles does his training. FriendlyJenkins told one thing each. At the same time, Milkha decided that he would notstop until Jenkins broke the record.
Twoyears later, in a race held in Cuttack, he also showed this. They ran so fastthat the judges could not believe it and they re-measured the track. MilkhaSingh's name is associated with the historic race of the 1960 Rome Olympics,which turned him into a myth. He reached the final and, despite leading forhalf the race, missed out on a medal by a hundredth of a second.
Inthat race, Otis Davis and Karl Kaufman set a new world record while MilkhaSingh set a national record with 45.73 seconds. It took thirty-eight years tobreak this record when Paramjit Singh took 45.70 seconds in Calcutta. Everyoneknows a little bit about the adventures of Milkha Singh.
Manyhave seen him as a simple soldier in whose eyes a fire was lit all the time. Healways attributed his success to three things – discipline, hard work and will.If these three things come in bus, then man can achieve everything in theworld. Everyone knows this simple thing, but someone has the ability to use itin life. That's why we had only one Milkha Singh.