Author- Milkha Singh
Publisher- Rupa Publications
Genre- Autobiography/ Non-fiction
Length- 160pages
Year-2013
Rating- 4.5/5 stars
The lines on our palms do not decide our future, kambakht, we too have a say in it" -Milkha Singh
The Flying Sikh's autobiography is a tale of extreme courage, conviction and sacrifice. It is an ordinary man's journey from a refugee to a world-class athlete.
To talk about the book I would like to quote the legend himself, as he said in the epilogue, "I am neither a writer nor an author but a sportsman with passion, who has poured his heart out in this book". Truly, he has weaved all the major events of his life as an armyman, athlete and then as a Govt. Employee together with utmost love and care. His memoir begins with the memories of his childhood days at Govindpura in the late 1930's when the impending war was hovering over the sky of Europe.
Then gradually the story moves to his struggles at the refugee camp in Old Delhi where for the first time he realized the pains of hunger and being homeless.
One important thing which is worth commendable here is that unlike most of the celebrities and other giant figures who prefers to discuss about their achievements only and maintains a clean image throughout their autobiography, Milkha Singh has shared everything openly, maybe to make his readers understand that every human makes error and one should learn from their past mistakes to grow in life. For instance, he has shared one such incident of his life when in the year 1948, he was arrested and sentenced to jail for 10 days for travelling without ticket. Such honesty can be expected from a true athlete only.
Milkha Singh is an amazing storyteller. He has beautifully presented each events of his life in a sequencing order. It is because of his excellent writing style and narration that it feels like he is talking with each and every reader individually and I firmly believe everyone will learn something different and motivating from his life journey.
The Chapters I loved the most is "I have a Dream" where he has talked about how he played his role as a responsible father. In the chapters "Once an athlete, always an athlete " and "The Politics of Sports", he has thoroughly discussed why India is unable produce more world class-athletes in large quantities like other European countries. He has discussed where we lack and what should we do to overcome this problem.
I would like to end my review with his golden suggestion which he gave to his son Jeev Milkha Singh, "You can achieve anything in life. It is just depends on how desparate you are to achieve it".
I highly encourage everyone to read it..Whether you are a budding athlete, or a student or a person who wants to excell in his/her craft, you should definitely give this book a try.
I give this book 4.5 stars for the eloquent writing style, beautiful narration and overall presentation.
Happy Reading
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