I would push myself so much that in the end I would collapse and I would have to be admitted to hospital, I would pray to God to save me, promise that I would be more careful in future. And then I would do it all over again.
There are three legends in sports - Dhyan Chand, myself and Sachin Tendulkar. People will always remember three of us in Indian Sports.
I enjoyed watching 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' very much. Many such sports films should be made so that the upcoming generation draws inspiration from the sportspersons of our country, win medals at the Olympics and Asian Games, and make India proud.
Yes, I started by running barefoot. My feet used to slip in canvas shoes. So we put them aside and ran barefoot.
I am happy with the Padma Shri. What difference does it make to me if I am now given a higher Padma Award?
If you want to make your children a successful doctor, engineer or a sportsperson then you will have to put in double the hard work than that of your children.
When 'Bhaag Mikha Bhaag' was released, no matter where I went - Australia, England or Canada, people around the world used to say 'Farhan is Milkha Singh's ditto copy.'
I loved Farhan's look in the 'Toofaan' teaser. He has made a wonderful physique for the role of a boxer.
When I used to go to Bombay to run, I would often meet Raj Kapoor and he would take me to RK Studio.
I didn't watch a film after the 1960s. I have no idea who all were the good heroes, directors or producers in the '80s. The only film I watched after all those years was my own film.
If you look at history of athletics in the country almost all champions have hailed from the villages.
I do not blame the government for not providing infrastructure to athletes. They have given everything for training of athletes.
Sports authority should hire coaches only on contract basis in athletics and also in other games. The coaches should be told to produce medals in upcoming Olympic Games. Only then will they work day and night and push sportsmen and women to work harder.
The new generation I feel does not know about Milka Singh, they don't know about the hard work I did, what struggles I went through, in Pakistan and India, they know just the name.
I am not against cricket, but it is dominating this country. All other games are finished, because the media shows cricket 24 hours a day, the papers are full of cricketers' photographs.
In my determination to avoid failure, I set myself a goal to work towards, that is, to transform myself into a running machine.
Every morning I would rise at the crack of dawn and after the usual ablutions, would get into my sports kit and dash off to the track, where I would run two or three miles cross-country, in the company of my coach.
No matter what the weather was, I would practice for five hours every morning and evening, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days a year. It was this disciplined routine that moulded me into the athlete I became.
Gold slipped from my hand at the Rome Olympics and then from P.T. Usha at the Los Angeles Olympics. But it is my dream to see a boy or girl from India winning gold in the Olympics before my death.
Athletes like me, PT Usha, Anju Bobby Gerorge have reached finals in Olympics, and it's not easy to reach the finals. If Indians were genetically inferior then we wouldn't have reached even finals.
My parents had a small piece of land to earn a living from, but my father always wanted to educate his children.
I don't even know when my father admitted me to school. During those days in villages, people did not remember the exact date a child was born. It was usually only the season that they remembered.
If Milkha Singh is known as the Flying Sikh in the whole world today, the credit goes to General Ayub and to Pakistan.
We had nothing in our times. The athletes and sportsmen in those days didn't earn much money. We worked for the applause, people's appreciation inspired and motivated us, we ran for the country.
Whenever I returned after winning a race, my friends in the Army would lift me on their shoulders and break into Bhangra, irrespective of whether they knew the dance or not.
I have been on the deathbed so many times and had to be given oxygen while training. I did not know if I would survive, but the roar of applause would lift me up.
A child, when orphaned, can become anything. If I had not joined the Army, who knows, I may have become a dacoit. I give all credit to the Army; they found Milkha Singh.
If today any athlete were to put in as much effort as Milkha Singh did, he can conquer the universe and his record will remain unbroken for at least 100 years.