In Chandigarh, the Flying Sikh was also a neighbour par excellence

Legendary athlete Milkha Singh and his wife were always ready to extend a helping hand to their neighbours, recall residents of Chandigarh’s Sector 8

After the Flying Sikh, Milkha Singh, passed away from post-Covid complications on Friday night, within five days of his wife passing away, residents of Sector 8, where the couple used to live, fondly remembered their neighbours, who always extended a helping hand.

As per those living next to his house in Sector 8, there was no big fuss in being neighbours with the legendary sprinter who had bought the house in the 80s. (PTI)

As per those living next to his house in Sector 8, there was no big fuss in being neighbours with the legendary sprinter who had bought the house in the 80s.

Captain Gursharan Singh (retd), one of his neighbours, had known Milkha ever since he had shifted to this house from his government quarters in Sector 7: “As a neighbour, Milkha was very humble. His wife, Nirmal Kaur, helped my wife with her arthritis and tended to the garden. Milkha would greet us very cordially and every morning a queue of poor people would form outside his house and he would try to help them all. He also had many admirers in the police and in the armed forces who would drop in to meet him. His son, Jeev Milkha Singh, threw the best parties in the city.”

Milkha was also close to his immediate neighbour Colonel SS Bedi (retd), who also passed away due to Covid in April this year. The Colonel’s wife, Vijay Bedi, was good friends with Milkha and his wife. “There was a couple’s kitty in which we used to participate and we have very fond memories of them. When my husband died, Milkha Singh and his wife offered to help me. I will miss them dearly,” she said.

‘Was in the best of health’

Milkha was an avid golfer and many residents of Sector 8 recalled running into him at the Chandigarh Golf Club.

General secretary of the Sector 8 Resident Welfare Association, Captain GS Ghuman (retd) said, “We would regularly spot him at the Chandigarh Golf Club; he had only stopped coming a couple of months back. Milkha was in the best of health and after playing his shot, he would run towards the ball to play the next shot. He was also fond of going for walks in the sector. I would run into him at the park behind the Sector 8 dispensary. He was very proud of his health and often at the park he would tell me he didn’t take any medicines even after turning 90. We will miss his energy.”

Local area councillor and senior deputy mayor Maheshinder Singh Sidhu, who also lives in Sector 8, recalled that Milkha was active at the Central Club in Sector 9: “It’s a place for senior citizens to socialise and he would go there almost daily with his wife to play cards. They were passionate about Sector 8, too. Nirmal Kaur wanted to see badminton courts built in a Sector 8 park and I was working with her on this.”

The Sector 8 House Holder Welfare Association, of which Singh was a part, will shortly hold a meeting to honour the late Olympian’s memory. President RS Gill said, “Due to Covid restrictions we didn’t organise anything on Saturday, but it will be done soon.”