HL ESSAY

Introduction

Throughout one’s lifes, one faces challenges of all sorts: Emotional,

Physical and Mental. Indian field sprinter Milkha Singh is one of them and he has
conveyed this through his bibliography. So the RQ is- To what extent did Milkha
Singh portray transformation of life through his book
‘The race of my life’.

Milkha Singh was born around 1930s in a sikh family and belonged to the race of
Rajput .He enjoyed socializing with friends and running against the train races. A
very famous title ‘Bhaag Milkha bhaag’ is his father’s last words since he saw his
parents being killed in riots during India's partition .Somehow he had managed to
escape from riots and catch a train to Delhi,working in tiny businesses after
arriving to earn.

After many failed attempts to join Indian army Milkha Singh finally succeeded
and showcased his athletic skills in track which further encouraged him to
represent India and for which he dedicated his whole time in hard work, and the
result showcased it when Milkha Singh from India had won gold medals in Asian
games and commonwealth
games.In this way Milkha Singh was successful to portray transformation of
life.Then Milkha gained a lot of attention not only nationally but also
internationally. Milkha Singh with a strict daily routine was successful in defeating
pakistan field sprinters and gained the title of “The Flying Sikh” from the Ayub
Khan(second president of Pakistan).Milkha Singh had participated in 80 races and
had won 77 in 2 years.He had also visited western countries and was recognized as
one of the best athletes.A very famous saying “Bad luck either destroys you or it
makes you the man you really are.”
A minorJudgement mistake cost Milkha Singh the gold medal at the Olympics in
Rome, and his finish in fourth place nearly led to his retirement as an
athlete.However, he later came to regret not doing it.He joined the Punjab
government after leaving the army, kept up his practise and had won 2 gold medals
overseas , and eventually reached the day that the entire country of India regretted:
Milkha Singh had retired and was set to go on a completely new life.Another
famous saying “Once an Athlete, Always a Athlete”. He continued to be in demand
on the global circuit even after retiring from track.

As the main guest and to light the torch, he was invited to sports events in many
other countries.Milkha Singh later became the director of education and sports.He
is also successful in portraying the transformation of his life through his book.To
assess the sporting prowess of Indian children, he would lead trails. Athletes from
India, in his opinion, had also lost their deadly instinct when it came to winning
international tournaments.According to Milkha Singh in India there was politics
behind each sport because of which India was banned by IOC(International
Olympic committee) due to the corruption in the organization committee which
was responsible for the New Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010.Milkha Singh
states 3 points which worry him the most. First-He adds that he is most concerned
about today's youngsters because drug use during sporting events is openly
practiced, is simple to obtain from traffickers and medical supply stores, and is
rapidly gaining ground in the sports culture. Despite the fact that people have been
found using drugs and cheating in sports competitions in India, no strict action has
been taken, which is a disgrace to the nation and necessitates the return of the
prizes.Second, he claims that significant national awards were not handed to the
people who truly deserved them but rather to random applicants. Third, according
to Milkha Singh, retired athletes who have served their nation internationally are
not acknowledged and face financial hardships after their retirement.

Body Paragraph
Milkha Singh portrays the transformation of his life through his book ‘The race of
my life’.He tries to communicate with the youth of the nation that difficulties are
transitory and not permanent since everything in the world is changing and There
are times when things can be chaotic and irritating. but time changes
everything.Being the person we have always wished to be is really important,
Milkha Singh used his life as an example to convey to the youth. We must never
doubt our aspirations and will strive diligently to realize them.

He is successful in conveying one of the most crucial messages “It takes courage to
get through the grief”, which can be also related to accepting mistakes in order to
succeed. Despite making a minor error of judgment that cost him the gold medal at
the Olympics, he was still able to move past it."Life is not a bed of roses, but
loaded with thorns and stones," a well-known quote, sums up Milkha Singh's two
guiding beliefs. To accomplish dreams, one needs strength and tenacity, and
discipline will bring one to their destiny. From him, we may learn that maintaining
the balance between two periods of life is crucial since he demonstrates his
concern for the future of the country as well as the importance of the present.

Milkha Singh throughout his career has been a philomath as he alway tried to learn
new skills,techniques from his competitor, which can be referred as a not having a
inflated view of one’s self importance.-example(pg-47) after being one of the best
athlete in the world he was still taking part in small competitions in India like the
regiments to all India meets.After retiring and earning fame, fortune, and respect,
he continued to work in the sports sector but organized camps and training sessions
for aspiring athletes.For Milkha Singh "Success means more than trophies and
accolades".Due to his care for his son's schooling and his role as a father, he also
had responsibility for his child's future. However, because he was a sportsman
himself, he believed that after retirement, they would have no future.But as time
passed he son Jeev accelerated in sports and won many tournaments, which gave
Milkha singh confidence and let him continue the sport,For reference (pg-
94).Additionally, he succeeds in persuading the audience(Parents) that they
shouldn't discourage their children from pursuing their passions as careers.Moving
forward in spite of life's setbacks and constantly attempting to forge new ones were
two more crucial lessons taught by Milkha Singh.
CONCLUSION
In his piece "The race of my life," Milkha Singh attempted to depict how life may
change.He has illustrated how putting in the effort and perseverance necessary to
get what we really want out of life can alter our course.He also claims that
believing in oneself and saying "you can" are the first steps to success.Another
famous quote “We all make choices, but in the end, our choice make us”is another
strong believe of Milkha singh which he tries to convey to the audience.
Nowadays, learning anything new from someone else makes people feel
insignificant.But for him when acquiring a new skill, nobody is little.
Even though he knew it wouldn't benefit him in the slightest, he tried to salvage the
nation's future in sports which proves he is a genuine patriot.I feel Milkha Singh
has been successful in conveying the crucial message to the audience.

Word count-1227