Fauja Singh had weak legs as a child and could not walk properly till he was five years old. He discovered the joys in running later in life.
It was a chance meeting with a man who would become his coach. By then, he was by no means a young man bubbling with energy.
Fauja Singh was born the year of King George V’s Delhi Durbar. He was there when Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated.
Singh was 36 when India won independence. He was 36 when he met his coach in UK.
He was 114 at the time of his passing. One wonders whether it was untimely as it was a hit and run accident.
By then, neither was he in the first flush of youth nor a man imbued with the joy of living. He had lost his wife and one of his children.
Yet he ran nine marathons and set up a record in his age group.
In Toronto, in 2011 he became the first centenarian to finish a marathon. Fame embraced him when he had ceased to be a young man.
Fauja Singh appeared in an Adidas advertising campaign with Muhammad Ali and David Beckham. But fame and fortune rested lightly on him.
Singh donated most of his earnings from brand investment to charity. It is in the fitness of things, Sikhs in the City, Singh’s running club and charity in London is reportedly planning a series of events to celebrate his life and achievements.
This is a tragic moment as one and all reckoned the tragic nature of his death. The many feats of this man are recalled with pride.
At 95, Singh found life so “beautiful’. His death is a pity as he ” just did not feel like dying.”
