In my teens, I had no idea about running as a sports event. For me, an orphan, it was not only about learning how to survive the brutal world, but also about carving an identity.Collection: Sports
Life is not decided by lines on a palm but by the power of the will, hard work and discipline.Collection: Power
I want people to be passionate about their fitness. Everyone must take ten minutes of physical exercise daily at home or outside.Collection: Fitness
I want to tell people that they should always try to stay calm and speak good things, have control over food by adopting healthy food habits, eat less food and exercise daily.Collection: Food
Running had become such an obsession that even when asleep, I would run races in my dreams.Collection: Dreams
It's painful to see that after Independence, India hasn't won a single Olympic medal in athletics.Collection: Independence
Whether it be a sage or a king, all have been borne by women.
I too have daughters, and it saddens me that people think of daughters as a burden.
My stomach hurts at times, my back is always a problem, and my eyesight is not good. But I still jog every day.
It's what I tell everyone - exercise is as important as food.
I came from the bottom, from nothing. To a man who has nothing in his life, imagine what it's like to be hoisted on someone's shoulders.
No one should suffer what I suffered. I still dread those scenes when man killed man. I lost my parents, most of my family, by running away.
Rome rankles. It will always. I missed a certain medal.
I have been telling people that doing physical exercise and remaining healthy is very important during this COVID times. I am 91 but I have been doing exercise regularly.
I have only seen movies of my generation - 'Mother India,' 'Shree 420,' 'Awaara.' Those days, we had actors such as Dilip Kumar, Ashok Kumar.
We were from a village that's now in Pakistan's Muzaffargarh district, in Kot Addu tehsil. Our village was 10 km away from the city. The boys had to walk barefoot for 10 km from the village to the school in Kot Addu.
I believe there is no dearth of talent in India. But what's missing is the ability to work hard.
I am fit at 88 years of age. I do yoga and also go jogging 2-3 times which has kept me fit and healthy even at this ripe age in which many people keep seeing doctors.
Do yoga and exercises daily even if it is for a few minutes only and results would appear in a few days only.
Milkha Singh is living his last days. An earthen lamp's glow is brightest towards the end, in the same manner I am humbled by the kind of love and respect being showered on me at this age.
I don't hanker after awards.
Everybody knows Milkha deserves more than a Padma Shri, but it is for others, including the federation, to nominate me to the government for higher awards.
The government does a lot, ranging from providing the infrastructure to financial support for training etc. In our time, we didn't get these facilities. Current athletes are getting all these. Yet, another Milkha Singh has not been produced in the country in nearly 60 years after me.
I could have joined politics during Nehru's or Indira Gandhi's time. I don't want to. I stay away from these things.
Dhyan Chand passed away long back but we should not forget what he has done for the country.
You must understand that to get an Olympic medal is a huge achievement.
I am very happy that the doors have opened for sportspersons. But I think the first Bharat Ratna should have been given to Dhyan Chand because of what he has achieved.
Politicians or well connected people will try to get hold of federations and they don't think about sportspersons.
If I contest elections in a federation, I will not get even four votes. It's all politics and money.
It was the quest for survival that took me to the world of sports.
I lost in my first ever 400m race, the event I almost ruled later.
I had joined the army as a sepoy in 1951.
When I won gold medals in both the 200m and 400m events at the 1958 Asian Games, the then chief of army staff, General K.S. Thimayya, announced my promotion as a junior commissioned officer.
These days kids are not passionate. They lack will power to go all the way. They want to take the easy route.
Kids in the city can play cricket, badminton, tennis or football. Athletics is not their cup of tea.
A lot is expected from athletes but we need good coaches as well.
We should have coaches who can produce results and even if we need to hire them on contracts, we should do that.
Athletics needs more focus because it is the heart and soul of any Olympics.
Today, Jamaica is known because of just one man - Usain Bolt. Not many Indians have managed to reach the finals of track and field events at the Olympics and that says it all.
I have given permission that my medals be transferred from the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in New Delhi to the sports museum in Patiala.
The people of this country remember me. I may have started dyeing my beard, but I am recognized at airports, railway stations - anywhere. School textbooks have chapters on me, and somehow the sobriquet 'The Flying Sikh' has endured in people's memory.
You have to be disciplined if you want to be world class.
I knew what my fatal error was: After running perilously fast in lane five, I slowed down at 250 meters. I could not cover the lost ground after that - and that cost me the race. After the death of my parents, that is my worst memory. I kept crying for days.
I wanted Jeev to become doctor or an engineer, but after seeing his talent and interest in golf, I dropped that idea.
I start my day with two eggs and two slices of toast along with juice and take 1-2 chapatis with dal and curd rice at lunch.
As long as you remain true to yourself and continue training with sincerity, nobody can stop you from achieving excellence.
Athletics talent is more prominent in the villages than in the urban areas because the main factor determining the difference is hard work which is an integral part of an athlete's training.
Athletics is the mother of all sport and every child must try out it once during his school days.
Don't sell your country's pride for a few bucks.
If you want a name, you have to fight death.