A Storybook Romance of India’s Flying Sikh Milkha Singh and His Wife Nirmal Immortalised Them

Prof. Seema profiles ace athlete, Milkha Singh and his wife, Nirmal Milkha Singh. Theirs was a storybook romance and they left this world in quick succession. Their togetherness in life and death made them immortal. A Special Feature and a tribute to the sportsperson couple, exclusively for Different Truths.

Who doesn’t know the name of Milkha Singh, the legendary superstar of India’s sporting world?  His name has been synonymous with grit, unflinching determination, and perseverance even in the worst of odds that life throws around us, and above all simplicity and humility. His entire life has been a saga of trials and tribulations and a heroic struggle against them leading to the pinnacle of success and glory. His life story is an exemplary and inspiring tale for our younger generation to emulate and learn a lot from.

The news of his unfortunate demise due to post-covid complications sent waves of shock and grief through the length and breadth of the country and the whole world. At the age of 91, Milkha Singh bade adieu to this mortal world leaving behind him a rich legacy that any nation can feel extremely proud of. A life like his deserves to be celebrated and eulogised.

His wife Nirmal Milkha Singh, the former National Volleyball captain and Director of Sports for Women in the Punjab Sports Department, also succumbed to Covid five days before her husband.

The reasons I feel compelled to pen down this tribute to the Flying Sikh of India and his wife Nirmal Milkha Singh are many. I have been in Punjab for the last 39 years and share the pride of every Punjabi at the inimitable glory of this simple down-to-earth Punjabi Sikh, who had brought laurels to his native land by his rare feats internationally, and those of his wife who had been a prominent sportswoman from Punjab. Also, I have worked at one of the very few heritage institutions of the country, that is Kanya Maha Vidyalaya (KMV), Jalandhar, a 136-year-old pioneering institution. Milkha Singh’s wife, Nirmal Milkha Singh, was a student of this iconic institution.  The news of the demise of Nirmal Milkha Singh saddened everyone associated with KMV as she was fondly remembered by all, especially because of her strong connection with the institution.

Ashoo Bajaj, one of my colleagues who had been Head Dept of Physical Education at KMV recalls how Nirmal Milkha Singh, as the Chief Guest during one of the Annual Athletic Meets of the college, became very emotional and, remembering all the support staff of her time by name, gave them gifts generously. Ashoo also fondly recollects how Milkha Singh, as Director Sports Punjab used to take personal interest in each activity of players and provide all kinds of help to the needy. He would often talk to her about her practice schedule, diet, timetable of studies and so on while she was a student in Chandigarh. He used to visit Athletic Club Chandigarh, give useful tips to athletes, and try to solve their problems. Being a very down-to-earth person, he never tried to show off his achievements or how great he was. Ashoo also remembers Nirmal Milkha Singh as a great volleyball player, a true disciplinarian, and a great organiser – things she observed about her during a Summer Coaching Camp at Shimla.

In 2019, Nirmal Milkha Singh visited her alma mater, KMV during an alumni meet. The memories of her vibrant, vivacious, and energetic persona are still fresh in my mind.  Draped in a bright red saree, exuding liveliness and warmth, she seemed so elated at re-visiting her alma mater. One of my colleagues, Dr Vinod Kalra, who was in-charge of the college alumni body, fondly relives her warm and unforgettable memories of her interaction with Nirmal Milkha Singh. She says, “When I telephoned Nirmal Milkha Singh for the first time, the moment she came to know that I was speaking from KMV, she was overwhelmed and very keen to visit her college. But due to ill health, she could not come. Two days later, when I called her to inquire about her health, she affectionately said, “Tu hi aaja! Addha KMV taan mein tere vich hi vekh lawaangi” (Why don’t you come to meet me? I would see half of KMV in you.) Eventually, she visited KMV, met and embraced me as if she were meeting some dear one after ages, saying, “Meinu badi taang si tenu milan di! Ajj Mil laya, thhand pai gayi!” (I had a keen desire to meet you. I have met you today and I am feeling so content!) I was surprised that someone could be so loving. She was a very affectionate, cultured, and refined lady. It is so difficult to accept her sudden departure in this way. Her words still echo in my ears.”

Really at that time, we couldn’t ever imagine that she would leave us so soon, and her husband, Milkha Singh, would follow her immediately after, as though this made-for-each other couple had vowed to be together, no matter what, and as though they were telling death that you cannot keep us apart.  

I do not wish to recount here those aspects of Milkha Singh’s life that are well known — his painful and traumatic memories of the bloodbath of partition, and how it made him lose his family members and suffer, the ensuing bitterness, poverty, deprivation and struggle, his professional accomplishments, the unbeaten records he made, the sobriquet of the Flying Sikh that got attached to his name and so on. All these details are beautifully encapsulated and dramatically and powerfully rendered in his biopic Bhag Milkha Bhag and are well-known to even the youth of the present generation.

I would like to focus here on the extraordinary story of Milkha Singh and Nirmal. The way they have bid farewell to this world, one after the other, seems to speak of their strong bond with each other. They had met each other in Ceylon and had developed a liking for each other. The story of their beautiful love affair, the hostility of the then conservative society opposed to an inter-caste marriage between a Hindu girl and a Sikh boy, in the 1960s, their subsequent marriage after the intervention of Partap Singh Kairon, the then Chief Minister of Punjab, and the long spell- almost six decades of their married life together, and what they meant to each other, is beautifully and laconically summed up by this one line in Milkha Singh’s autobiography The Race of My Life, released in 2013, “I have many trophies but the biggest trophy for me has been my wife Nirmal Milkha Singh.” He also says about Nirmal, lovingly called Nimmi by him, in the chapter “The Jewels in my Crown” in his autobiography, “Nimmi is a devoted wife and mother. I am still amazed by how efficiently she manages her personal and professional life without letting either of them suffer.”

As for Milkha Singh, he spoke often of the regret that he could not win the gold for his country in the Olympics and keenly wanted someone from the younger generation to accomplish that feat before he left this world as can be seen in this video clip.  

 Unfortunately, his desire is still unfulfilled. Let’s hope for that day to come soon.

https://www.facebook.com/CinePunjabii/videos/141435931389377/

Today these illustrious personalities are no longer with us in physical terms. In their death, we have lost two great beings deeply connected with the soil, with their roots. But let us remember that even in their death, Milkha Singh and Nimal Milkha Singh continue to shine as brightly as ever, like the stars that they were. Their entire life represents that essence of life which seems to convey a strong message of hope, of never-say-die, of nerves of steel, of dreaming big, believing in one’s abilities and of single-minded dedication to the pursuit of one’s goal besides being true to each other. Their story will continue to enthuse us perennially and I would like to conclude by saying: Milkha Singh and Nirmal Milkha Singh may not be there, but their great deeds and their bond of love shall always live!

Photo sourced by author and visual by Different Truths