Old age will never catch up with him

[nanosecond]

Old age will never catch up with him

Meet 93-year-young Adidas star; even Kenyans fear him

Manraj Grewal

Chandigarh, December 22: ‘‘It will take me a day to tell you about my ad campaign,’’ he grins. Fauja Singh, the 93-year-old marathon runner, shows no signs of jetlag as he treats you to a garrulous account of his shoot for Adidas last year. ‘‘You know they hired a makeup artist, a non-smoker for me, and one of the girls winked at me to make me laugh.’’

Dressed in a black suit with a black tie, the man who was declared ‘Britain’s most popular Sikh’ after he was splashed all over the billboards in London, is a trifle disappointed that no one recognised him at Amritsar’s Rajasansi airport today. ‘‘Back in London, everyone knows me,’’ he frowns.

Till a year ago, very few people did. Fauja was just another lonely old widower from Beas village in Jalandhar, who used to get so homesick at his son’s Ilford home that he would fly back home on the sly.

Life changed pace when he took to running. ‘‘I just wanted to be happy, and running made me thought-free,’’ he strokes his Santa Claus beard. Five years ago, he took part in his first-ever marathon. Last year, he shot to fame by setting the world’s best time in the over-90 age group in the prestigious London Marathon, clocking 5.40 hours.

‘‘It’s thanks to God and my coach Harmandar Singh,’’ he beams, telling you about the pains that the 44-year-old council worker takes to coach him every Sunday. Then there is Jackie, ‘‘a very good gori kudi’’, who works for BLISS, the charity f

or premature babies to which he donates his prize money.

The fame has given him a zest for life. The father of four children, 13 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, says he feels he was born yesterday. ‘‘I live by Gurdas Mann’s song, ‘Umraan nu ki karna, dil jawaan hona chahida’,’’ he laughs.

That explains his passion for keds and clothes. ‘‘Want to see my suitcase,’’ he leaps up, telling you how he spends most of his pension on his togs. The Adidas gifted him several pairs of shoes but he didn’t like any. ‘‘My favourite pair is one my coach bought me for 112 pounds. It’s light and fits me like a glove,’’ he tells.

Fauja Singh, who is happy to tell you that he is unlettered, didn’t try to drive a hard bargain with Adidas. ‘‘I told them I give all my prize money to charity, so they gave 9,000 pounds to three different charities.’’

His daily 6 am-to-10 pm routine is packed with some prayer, four hours of walking the London streets, four hours of gupshup at the gurdwara, an hour of Punjabi music, very light vegetarian fare, and loads of happiness. The secret of his energy: Alsi di pinnis every morning, and freedom from worry.

Of late, his left leg has begun to bother him, but he is determined to carry on running. Tomorrow, he will take part in the marathon the Punjab Government is holding as part of the tercentenary of the sahibzadas. Next month, he will be on the track in Pakistan.

‘‘You see, he wants to better the record of a 98-year-old who ran a marathon in nine hours,’’ explains his nephew Paramjit Singh. Fauja nods.

‘‘I want to break that record and then hang up my shoes.’’ Many believe he will. Which is why a billboard in London reads: ‘‘The Kenyans had better watch out for him (Fauja) when he turns 100.’’

[lakhvir]

WaheguruJi Ka Khalsa. WaheguruJi Ki Fateh!

Good 'ol Fauja Singh was in Kenya earlier this month, invited as a guest to a Gurmat Sikh Youth Camp held in Kericho. I have photos, taken of him at the magnificent Kericho Gurudwara, though I missed that rare opportunity to catch up with this 'RoadRunner'.

Two of my friends made it to the camp, and were they enchanted! I'll email some of the pictures I have (which you will not find anywhere else, because much of what you will find are from the press, widely distributed ones). Really nice images - I'll email them to Admin (my Mac does not allow me to attach images from this forum <_< ). I hope they can attach them for us on this thread. Really inspiring stuff.

And hey, I got an autographed, small diary, bearing his name written in Urdu! The man is amazing, from all the stories I've heard about him.

I'll also have it known that when he appeared in our press, he became an instant hit with everyone, even Africans! A turbaned, fully keshdhari Sikh making headlines in our country is rare and it came as a refreshing breeze to have someone compete with the Kenyan legends for world headlines!

For Kenya to welcome him and feel a part of the country where some of the best runners in the world are born and bred, it was an honour to have an extremely positively inspiring Sikh role model - for both the young and old alike.

Way to go, Fauja!

WaheguruJi Ka Khalsa. Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!