His legend is immortal and he has been further immortalised
on the silver screen through the film ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’. However, Milkha
Singh believes that the future matters more than the past and the next
generation can do great things.
When asked what the next generation required to do in order to succeed, he said, “My story is very similar to the life of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. It is nothing but his courage that has led him to achieve what he has. Without daring to dream, he would not have had become the Prime Minister of India. In similar vein, it was my willpower that led me to break the world record and the Olympic record. I believe that a person makes his own luck with willpower, determination and hard work.”
Through this self-same will power, Milkha rose to fame. In 2013, a movie was made in an attempt to pay tribute to one of India’s largest sporting legends. “Every time I watch the movie ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’, I get emotional. In my entire life, I recall crying only thrice. The first time was when I was separated from my family during the partition and I found myself standing alone on the railway platform. The second time was when I lost the medal at the Rome Olympics. The third time I cried was when this movie was released.”
Yet, the story goes that that Milkha’s film was of absolutely no profitability to the legend. “It was my son’s decision to give the rights to the film to Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. I sold the film rights for one rupee to the filmmaker, but inserted a clause stating that 10% of the profits would be given to the Milkha Singh Charitable Trust. This Trust was founded with the aim of assisting poor and needy sportspeople. So far I haven’t received anything from them but hopefully we should hear from them soon,” he says pensively.
Milkha goes on to say that while the formula for excellence is clear cut, this perseverance is sometimes sorely lacking in ‘generation next’. He elucidates, “In my time, excellence was solely on the basis of discipline and determination. After the film was released, a lot of youngsters came to me and said, “I want to be Milkha Singh” and I agreed to train them. Once the training began, they would run back home within four days. I see a lot of children in Goa play football but none of them want to take it up professionally. Football is just a hobby. If they take this sport seriously, they can qualify for the national games. The problem is that neither the kids nor the coaches are sincere enough to take football to another level in Goa.”
Yet, Milkha remains optimistic about the future. While ill fortune prevented him from securing the medals that he sought, one thing remains undisputed, that ‘The Flying Sikh’ and his achievements by themselves remain immortal.