By Saurabh Duggal

Legendary athlete late Milkha Singh had no idea when he was born, though he mentioned on number of occasions that he must have been around 14-15 years old at the time of the Partition. The only memories that existed in the labyrinths of the athlete’s mind were about his childhood spent in village Gobindpura in Muzaffargarh (Pakistan) and the killings of his parents and four siblings (three brothers and a sister) during riots that took place in the wake of the Partition.

He didn’t forget how lucky or unlucky (for having lost his closest relations), he was to have survived. Of the 2,000 odd villagers in Gobindpura, only a handful survived. In Milkha’s family, his eldest brother Makhan Singh and his wife, two married sisters and Milkha lived to tell the tale.

During the time of the partition (August 1947) — three days before the carnage that was to devastate Milkha’s life — when the young teenager was sent to Multan to take the help of Makhan Singh, his eldest brother who was then serving in the army, to protect their village.

“On the train to Multan, the fear of being killed by murderous mobs forced me to sneak into the ladies compartment and hide myself under a seat,” late Milkha Singh had said.

By the time help came, rioters had turned their village into a cremation ground. Many dead bodies including Milkha’s mother’s, two brothers’ and their wives’ could not even be recognised.

After reaching India, Milkha stayed in the refugee camp and had to do odd jobs for survival. He also fell in bad company, started stealing and gambling.

“One day, I told my brother to either get me a job in the army or not blame me if I bring a bad name to the family.”

After three rejections, finally in November of 1952, he was recruited into the army. There he was introduced to athletics and went on to become the country’s first athlete to win gold in the 1958 Commonwealth Games. Milkha rose to become one of the biggest names in Indian sports history.  

He lost the battle to COVID on June 18, 2021. RIP the legendary athlete.