He tried to join the army
thrice but was rejected. Finally he got selected in his fourth attempt. In
1951, he was stationed at the Electrical Mechanical Engineering Centre in
Secunderabad and that’s when he was introduced to athletics.
· As
a young boy Milkha Singh used to walk a distance of 10 km barefoot from his home to a village school
in Pakistan.
· Several
members of his family including his father were killed during the partition of
India. His father’s last words as he
lay dying were “Bhaag, Milkha” (run
for your life Milkha).
· While
in the army, he often trained himself by racing
against the meter gauge trains.
· He
sometimes trained himself so hard that he used to spit blood, urinate blood
and even fall unconscious during his practice sessions.
· At
the 1958 Cardiff Commonwealth Games, Milkha became the first individual to win a
gold medal at the Commonwealth Games from Independent India.
· He accepted only Re. 1 from film producer Rakeysh Omprakash
Mehra to allow him to make his biopic ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’.
· He
refused to accept the prestigious Arjuna Award in 2001 saying it came “40
years too late”.
