As of 2013, he is still the only male Indian to have won an individual athletics gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. He then won a gold medal in the 400m competition at the 1958 Commonwealth Games. In 1958, Milkha set records for the 200m and 400m in the Indian National Games and also won gold medals in the same events at the Asian Games.
My father always said that, "In any endeavour, the only thing that really matters is that you tried sincerely to do your very best" and while watching the movie I could hear his words echoing within me.īhaag Milkha Bhaag serves as a timely reminder that corruption is not the only route to glory It presents the road to the pinnacle of success as a hard one that requires personal commitment, tenacity and sacrifice. In a country where, everywhere we look, fast tracks to success, achieved on the back of corruption or cutting corners is normalised, Milkha's arduous journey from the refugee camps to becoming a national hero is truly inspirational. My take on the movie is slightly different.įor me, Milkha Singh's journey should be celebrated as a classic story of an underdog winning through perseverance, hard work and determination. Shobhaa De critiqued the core premise of the movie being about "looking back" using Milkha as a template for the nation as a whole. I saw the tears streaming down his face several times as he watched the movie, realising that it brought back poignant childhood memories of hiding fearfully with weapons and being separated from loved ones that he had suppressed over the years. The heavy burden of that tumultuous past and searing childhood memories of fleeing from "home" are embedded in his consciousness. My father, like Milkha, and many other Punjabi and Bengali families, was unceremoniously displaced from Bangladesh to Kolkata in 1947. Milkha and my father are from the same generation displaced by Partition. My father deeply admired the "Flying Sikh" but I only knew of him in fleeting terms. Growing up in Delhi in the era of Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and other worshipped cricket players, seeing Milkha Singh was like a whiff of nostalgia. I watched the movie Bhaag Milkha Bhaag primarily because my father had always raved about Milkha Singh as India's greatest athlete. Role model: Milkha Singh is viewed as India's greatest Olympian by many, especially those who remember his races
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