Milkha Singh Sonia Sanwalka Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra - The Race of My Life: An Autobiography

The Race of My Life

Born in 1932 in undivided India, Milkha Singh is arguably one of Indias most iconic male athletes. All through his professional career, his mantra for success has been regular practice, hard work, self-discipline, dedication and the determination to perform to the best of his abilities. Although he stopped participating in competitive events in the early 1960s, he has dedicated his life to sports.

Milkha Singh has always been a romantic at heart, and he is today a contented husband, a proud father and an indulgent grandfather. The Farhan Akhtar starrerBhaag Milkha Bhaag is a biographical film that depicts his early life and career.

Published by
Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd 2013
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Copyright Milkha Singh 2013

Introduction Copyright Jeev Milkha Singh 2013

Foreword Copyright Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra 2013

While every effort has been made to trace copyright holders of the photographs and obtain permission, this has not been possible in all cases; any omissions brought to our attention will be remedied in future editions.

All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Printed at Thomson Press India Ltd.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated, without the publishers prior consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published.

Mita de apni hasti ko agar koi martaba chahe,
ki dana khak may mil kar gul-e-gulzar hota hai

Contents

Foreword

The past four years have been the most exciting, traumatic and enlightening years of my life, as it was during this period that the idea of making a movie on Milkha Singh, the iconic athlete, was born, bred and executed.

For some the name Milkha Singh evokes a faint memory from the pages of history. However, what most people will remember is that Milkha Singh, hailed as the Flying Sikh, was the famous 400-metre champion, who infamously lost the ultimate race of his lifethe 1960 Rome Olympics.

My journey into his life through the film, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, made me understand how devastating this loss was for him. However, Milkha Singhs extraordinary resilience made him step out of the darkness of failure and find redemption.

But his catharsis was not easy, for Milkha had to face his inner demons and deepest fears to come through as a winner, in life.

Milkha Singh saw it alla bloody Partition, a lost childhood, homelessness, petty crime, and victories hard wonand easily lost. And yet, even after witnessing so much horror and despondency, his will to live every precious moment of life to the fullest is what legends are made off. His life to me is satrangi, a rainbow of many vibrant colours.

For me, Milkha Singhs life paints an intricate image of human trials and tribulations, one which evocatively illustrates that true victory lies in racing with ones troubles, not in running away from them aapni mushkilon se bhago nahin, unkey saath daud lagao.

I think God chose me as a medium to take Milkha Singhs story to the world, in order to remind ourselves that there is a Milkha Singh in each one of us.

For me he was...isand always will be an inspiration.

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Mumbai
June 2013

Introduction

It is really difficult to be objective when you have a father as decorated as mine. His legendary deeds on the track have inspired a nation, and I surely have benefited the most because of my proximity to him.

By the time I grew up and became aware of things, he was done with his athletics career. That will always be a regret because I have never seen him run in an event. But I have felt his influence as an amazing human being every moment of my life.

Things are an lot easier for kids in our country who want to take up sports as a profession now, but when I was in my teenage years, not many parents would have taken kindly to their childs dream of becoming a professional sportsman. But not my father. I think the greatest gift he has given me, apart from his genes, is not knowing the meaning of the word impossible, and his never-say-die attitude, is the wonderful support and guidance in helping me chart my own life and career.

He did have dreams of me becoming an Indian Administrative Services officer. But when I professed that I wanted to pursue a career in golf, the only thing he told me was that I have to be the very best in the business. I do have to thank my dad for the life that I have. If not for his love of golf after giving up running, I would have never followed him to the Chandigarh Golf Club and subsequently fallen in love with the sport.

I dont think he expects perfection from me. But what he surely insists on is the pursuit of perfection. From very early on, he instilled some life-changing values in me, including total dedication, discipline and determination. Those have helped me achieve whatever I have managed so far in my career.

We have shared a beautiful relationship. I must mention a couple of things about him. Given his involvement with sports, he had a very busy life when we were growing up, but Dad always made sure he had time for my mother and us kids. I think the pain of losing most of his family very early on in his life made him cherish what he had much more. And thanks to him and my mother, we are a very close-knit family.

Also, even though he was a strict disciplinarian, he always treated me like a friend. He has always been there to listen to me, and pass me nuggets of great wisdom that he acquired throughout his life. In fact, I have had the first drink of my life with my father and not with my teenage friends. That was the kind of freedom he gave me.

I am glad that Rupa Publications India are publishing his autobiography. His journey has been truly amazing and I hope it will motivate the readers as much as it has motivated me.

Let me leave you with one thing that my dad always says: you can achieve anything in life. It just depends on how desperate you are to achieve it.

Jeev Milkha Singh
May 2013

Prologue

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 of me runningrunningrunning

• sprinting from one shady patch to another to escape
  the blistering heat of the sun on my journey to school
• fleeingthemassacreonthatfearsomenightwhenmost
  of my family was slaughtered
• racing trains for fun
• outrunning the police when I was caught stealing
  in Shahdara
• leaving everyone behind in my first race as an army
  jawan so that I could get an extra glass of milk
• surging past my competitors in Tokyo when I was
  declared Asias Best Athlete
• Running in Pakistan and being hailed as The Flying
  Sikh

Each of these moments brings back bittersweet 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.