Turning a rogue - Part 4

Remembering 'Flying Sikh' Milkha Singh 

From the archives of Milkha's little-known autobiography: Flying Sikh, Milkha Singh, which was published first in Punjabi in 1970 and later translated into Hindi in 1977 and in English in early 80s, we are bringing you the life of legendary athlete from witnessing tragedy, deprivation, survival against all odds and victory in the face of loss. The pre-partition and post-partition era

Flashback - Part 4

Turning a rogue

Limited resources and a feeling of being unwelcome at his sister-in-law’s house were proving to be burdensome for Milkha. When he recalls those days, Milkha says with a sigh, “Watching the kids of my age attend school in the locality made me yearn to study. But forget about going to school, it was hard to even get a meal then.” A breather for Milkha came when he discovered that one of his sisters, Iswar Kaur, was in living in a locality nearby.

Since most of his time began to be spent on the streets doing nothing, it wasn’t long before Milkha fell in bad company. Watching movies became his hobby and to buy tickets, he along with other boys of the group, started stealing and gambling. “For money, I started stealing from the goods train at the Shahdara railway station. Once, during a police raid, I just about managed to escape with a few while some of our gang members were caught,” he writes.

Next: Finding redemption as a soldier