Free The Race of My Life by Sonia Sanwalka Milkha Singh Page B

right knee parallel to my left foot and both hands touching the ground.
    I invoked the blessings of the Almighty once again while I waited for the signal. The gun went off with a loud bang and as we took off there were loud cheers and claps from the spectators, some backing Spence, some Gosper, while the majority were yelling for Salisbury.
    I ran as if the furies were after me. I remembered Howard’s advice and strained every muscle for the first 300 metres. I was in the lead and when Spence saw that I was running at lightning speed, he tried to overtake me, but luck was on my side. I saw the white tape when I was just fifty yards away and made a mighty push to reach it before Spence caught up. There was a gap of a yard or so between us when I floated ahead and breasted the tape. Wild cries of ‘Come on, Singh; come on, Singh’, filled the air. I had won the race!
    And then, my body felt lifeless and I fell to the ground unconscious. The effort I had put into the race had taken its toll. From what I later heard, I was taken on a stretcher to the medical post, where I was revived with oxygen.
    It was only after I regained consciousness that the realization that I had won started sinking in. My teammates and other supporters surrounded me and lifted me on to their shoulders. As they brought me back to the stadium from the medical post, thunderous cheers greeted me. I draped the Indian flag around me and took a victory lap of the stadium.
    After my race, I was interviewed by BBC television.
    ‘Mr Singh, how do feel after winning the race?
    ‘I felt nothing at all, I was lost in another world. Now
I feel just like any other winner in my position—on
top of the world!’
    ‘Did you hope to win the race?’
    ‘I had no such hope. I only tried to do my best and I
am happy that I succeeded beyond my expectations.’
    ‘In your hour of victory, do you have any messages for your country?’
    ‘Only to say: my country, your son has done his duty
towards you. May every citizen do his duty to his
motherland.’
    ‘ What are your impressions about the people of this country?’
    ‘Their love and good wishes inspired me to win.’ (This
reply was just a formality.)
    ‘Did you have a chance to run with these athletes before?’
    ‘No, this is the first time that I have had the honour.’
    My win was a historic event, particularly significant because this was the first time that an Indian athlete had won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. My victory had put India on the sports map of the world.
    When I first arrived in Cardiff I was a nonentity. Today, I was treated like a celebrity. Our high commissioner to the Court of St James, Mrs Vijaylakshmi Pandit, had watched my win from the VIP enclosure, and she came up to congratulate me after the victory ceremony. When I saw her approach, escorted by our manager Ashwini Kumar, I wondered who that lady with ‘bob-cut’ hair was. Then we were introduced and I was very happy to meet the sister of our prime minister, Pandit Nehru, whom I had the privilege of meeting after I had returned from Tokyo. She embraced me and remarked that I had raised India’s honour and the nation was proud of me. I was uplifted by such warm felicitations. Then she told me that Panditji had sent a message asking what I would like as a reward for bringing such glory to India. I requested that a national holiday be declared on the day I landed in India—a wish that the prime minister happily granted! The Duke of Edinburgh had also come up to greet me. He had watched me winning the race and said, ‘I greatly appreciate Milkha Singh’s style of running.’
    That night we met sportsmen from all the other Commonwealth nations. We congratulated each other and talked of this and that. The next morning, I received a tsunami of telegrams praising my performance and congratulating me for winning.
    After the Games ended, we left for London where we stayed at the Dorchester Hotel. Queen Elizabeth had