Late Friday, Milkha Singh won his final race! It should be called the final victory as death remains the final destination of each living creature. This particular race is not just about how fast you run but also about how better you run. Milkha ran it in the best possible way. This should certainly be called a victory (and not defeat) because the very term defeat doesn't match with Milkha's calibre — he had proved so throughout his life. Great victors not just embrace the loss but also find a victory path from the gloom of loss itself. Milkha, being one of the victors' clan, ran all his life and ran unto death. Having lost his parents and siblings at a very early stage of consciousness to the dreadful partition, he ran to save his life and reached India from Pakistan. He carried out so-called mean works and even committed petty crimes to sustain his life. Milkha is known to have been jailed several times. He ran for sustenance all the while Rather than being withered away with difficulties, Milkha chose to win over the same. With passing time, as the spirit towards the nation sprouted and heightened within his courageous soul, Milkha Singh decided to run for being recruited to Army, thrice, failing each time. Success came with the fourth attempt in 1952. The life-long love affair with tracks for Milkha would kick in from this very moment as he would run races at the army camp and end up among the tops. The real run as an athlete started in 1956 after he cleared the selection trials for the Olympics. Below-the-mark performance in this first attempt made him seek training from the gold medalist Charles Jenkin, and the rigorous training thereafter leading to extreme fatigue and blood vomiting would lay the foundation stone for the towering Milkha figure as we know today. The rest of his life needs no recall and is etched in the memory and soul of each Indian. He won a gold medal at Asian Games a total of four times. The inspiring benchmark of achievements and winning spirit that he has set for the country's youth will remain intact for a long time to come. Most importantly, one could even be inspired by his losses — which were seldom though. Milkha's lost chance at the 1960 Rome Olympics of winning an Olympic medal is something that brought tears to his eyes for the whole of his life. Milkha Singh (45.6 seconds) ended up fourth in the race — falling behind Malcolm Spence for 0.1 seconds for the bronze medal. The gold that year medal went to American sprinter Otis Davis who completed the race in 44.9 seconds. Milkha regretted all through his life for having made the blunder of slowing down deliberately to save his energy for the final 150 m. That, of course, was his self-assessment and was based on his exceptional standards. This nowhere prevented his fanbase — which covers the whole of India for the least — from taking pride in the wonderful attempt he made to win the Olympic medal for his country. In his own conviction, he nearly missed out but, in fact, he had served the purpose of making the country proud with his commendable and dedicated endeavour. He had made Indians proud on many occasions and the reason behind him being successful at this was his high spirits towards the nation. Just before the Rome Olympics, in Pakistan — where he went reluctantly on Nehru's insistence — he defeated the legendary Pakistani sprinter, Abdul Khaliq. Being involved in administrative affairs for some time, Milkha Singh had also introduced some sports-related measures in Chandigarh schools in the later phase of his life. We certainly have lost a great deal with the demise of Flying Sikh to the Covid. Octogenarians would recall at this time the 1958 national holiday — declared by Nehru after Milkha clinched gold at British Commonwealth Games, and may ponder over the idea of his importance. Apart from the big national loss that we have suffered, it must be an inconsolable loss for his family members. His demise has come just a few days after that of his wife Nirmal Kaur — a noted volleyball player. While we all keep being inspired by the life and work of our beloved Flying Sikh, our hearts weep for the family.