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A Royal Visit to Australia

MANPREET KAUR SINGH

Australians were privileged to be amongst royalty during these past few days, because for the athletics fraternity and indeed for humankind in general, 102 year old Fauja Singh is as royal as they come.

He is a person who defies accepted definitions or dictionary descriptions, as he has set an entirely new benchmark for human achievement.

He began running at the age of 89, and has since run numerous marathons in his career in London, Toronto and many other cities around the world. His last full marathon race was the Virgin London Marathon in April 2012 at the age of 101 -- completed in 7 hour 49 minutes, some 22 minutes faster than his leisurely 8 hour 11 minutes in Toronto when he was 100.

In 2004, he replaced David Beckham as the brand ambassador of Adidas, role modelling their slogan “Impossible is Nothing“. And what’s most impressive is the fact he has donated, every single cent that has come his way either via endorsements or otherwise, to charity.

It was his dream to come to Australia, perhaps the only continent he hadn’t set foot on, and it was wonderful how the Sikh-Australian community came together to make this dream come true …

From the moment he landed here on March 22, 2013, Fauja Fever gripped Melbourne and Sydney like never before. Even Fauja Singh was excited, refusing to rest after the gruelling 24-hour flight from London, participating in a photo shoot within hours of arrival and even going on to meet the kangaroos and other Australian wildlife straight after!

Australia’s national broadcaster, Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), had run a special competition for its listeners, asking: “If you met Fauja Singh, what would you most like to ask him?”

The competition had a great response from local Australians, apart from Sikh-Aussie callers, with three winners getting the chance to meet him in person; even the press conference thereafter, drew a resounding response from the local media.

On March 24, he participated in the “Run for the Kids” in Melbourne city. Inspired by his impending arrival, over 100 members of the Sikh-Aussie community had registered to run this race for charity, under the name of ‘Flying Sikhs’.

Fauja Singh was the figurehead of this group, leading them at the start of the run and reluctantly pulling out of the race (on the request of family members) after a token participation. But 70 members of ‘Flying Sikhs’ went on to finish the race, placing as the sixth largest team in the competition, with one of their members placing third over-all.

As Fauja Singh attended a function held at the Blackburn Gurdwara soon afterwards, he said, ”I’ve planted a seed for the Sikh community in Melbourne – please ensure that you keep running and participating in charity events like this in the future.”

On the same day he visited a Vaisakhi mela at Sandown Racecourse, especially enjoying the kabaddi, saying, ”Kabaddi was the first sport ever that I competed in … this is how it all began’.

The next day, March 25, he went off sight-seeing to Phillip Island, feeding the pelicans on the way and enjoying the koala park in the vicinity. The highlight was an antique village in Moe, which has recreated an ancient village, complete with farming tools and machinery used by farmers in the olden days. Being a true son of the soil, Fauja was fascinated by that village, saying that it will be his standout memory of Australia.

On March 26, he flew to Sydney, where he was felicitated at a special function at the NSW Parliament House. He received the ‘Pride of the Punjabis’ award over there, going on to spend another day sight-seeing, meeting people and visiting the Parklea Gurdwara in Sydney.

He returned to Melbourne on March 28, driving straight up to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (“MCG“), where he was a special guest of the Richmond Football Club. He was ushered into the Tigers’ change room, where he met Richmond FC player Alex Rance. When Alex asked Fauja about his warm-up routine, the super fit marathoner demonstrated his whole warm up drill, with everyone around stunned at his energy and flexibility!

March 29 was the day that the Australian Sikh Games began and Fauja Singh was the star attraction at the opening ceremony. He led the ceremony to great applause, going on to mingle with the crowds, posing for thousands of photos again.

Overnight, he stayed at a farm in Kinglake, the original of which had been destroyed by the Black Saturday bushfires. He expressed amazement at how the farm had been rebuilt after that tragedy.

Later, on March 30, he was guest of honour at the Sikh Games Cultural night, stealing the show as he took the stage – he shared stories, told jokes and recounted numerous anecdotes for well over half an hour, to the delight of the huge audience.

March 31, he visited the Craigieburn Gurdwara, again inspiring the thousands gathered there with his simplicity and sagacity; he went back to the Sikh Games after that to watch the kabaddi again, and in the evening was a guest of honour at the Australian Sikh Games Gala dinner.

Then came his birthday on April 1 – the day he turned 102!

Melburnians are indeed privileged that he chose to celebrate his special day with us and not back home with his family. After meeting countless guests at home and going birthday shopping, he participated at a grand function at Café Saffron, sponsored by the Bedi brothers (Della College).

At every step along the way, he met hundreds and thousands of admirers, always pausing to talk to them, posing for countless photographs – never saying “no’ to anyone and always bursting forth with a smile.

Leaving Melbourne on April 2 with cherished memories of his own, he left behind a lot of goodwill, inspiration and unforgettable words behind … So here are a few Fauja-isms for you, in case you missed meeting the amazing personality in person:

1   Speak only what others will understand and eat only what you can digest … bolo oh jo samajh aa jaave, khao oh jo pach jaavey …”

2   Moderation – more people die of over-eating rather than those who die of starvation ... “loki kha ke marde hain, bhukeh nahi mardey”.

3   Special Diet- Happiness … he believes in speaking no evil, hearing no evil, and in surrounding himself with good people who keep him happy.

4   Exercise – even now, he walks for four hours a day. Even when he’s sick, he’d rather go for a run than take any pills from the doctor.

Please CLICK here to access interviews with S. Fauja Singh by the author, on SBS Punjabi Radio.

And you can follow the author's daily updates on Facebook from when Fauja Singh was here, by CLICKING here.

April 5, 2013

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