After Paramjit, who?

By Prabhjot Singh

The year 1997 was the best for Paramjit. On six occasions, he clocked less than 46 seconds. In the past, he did not have much of international exposure. He finished fifth in the Asian Athletic Meet at Fukuoka where he clocked less than 46 seconds. His main rival in Asia is none other than the Asian champion Sugath Tillekratne. Sugath had won a bronze in the Commonwealth Games where Paramjit was not sent.

A MERE coincidence that was. A two-metre plus lanky and athletic Raju had accompanied his 10-year-old younger brother, a spiker, to an SAI sports hostel in Government School at Tanda Urmar, for getting him formally admitted there. Raju, himself an excellent spiker and a triple jumper, was tempted by the facilities offered at the sports hostel.

He, too, volunteered to join it. The hostel’s athletic coach, G.S. Kang, could immediately see the potential in this teenager burning with a desire to excel in sports. Raju is an excellent sprinter material, he thought, and asked Raju if he would run 200 metres and 400 metres instead of taking trials in volleyball or hop step and jump.

And for Raju it was a hard decision. He had been doing very well, both in triple jump and volleyball. In the trials he impressed the coach so much that he was instantaneously admitted to the hostel. In eight years, Raju has come a long way. Today he is a national hero.

He is none other than Paramjit Singh "Rehill", an Inspector in Central Reserve Police Force, the new "fastest quarter miler of the country". On his way to record books, Paramjit has smashed the 38-year-old record of Flying Sikh Milkha Singh set during the historic final of 400 metres run at the Rome Olympic Games.

His younger brother, Sandeep, is a regular spiker in Punjab Police. He too is all set to make the international grade soon. Both Paramjit and Sandeep stand 6’ 2" in their socks. Paramjit has already become the first one from Nainowal Jattan village, about 15 km from Hoshiarpur, to represent the country in international meets abroad. The only other athlete from this village to make the national grade was Kabul Singh, an ex-Army hockey player. Kabul, however, never got an opportunity to represent the country.

When the Tribune team arrived at their recently completed pucca house, his aunt, Gurbachan Kaur, and cousin, Raji, were home. Father Kirpal Singh and mother Amrik Kaur were away to the family farm supervising potato harvesting.

"It is I who brought up Kirpal Singh after he lost his mother quite early. I am the eldest of four sisters and Kirpal has been the youngest child of our family. This is why he still calls me Bibi. Kirpal will be here any moment now," she tells us.

Meanwhile, Raji, who has just finished her matriculation, escorts us to the family room where a big collage of action pictures of Paramjit is fixed a little above the television set. Medals, trophies and mementoes of Paramjit adorn the showcase of the room. It is not long before Kirpal Singh and Amrik Kaur arrive.

"Paramjit is a committed and dedicated athlete. I am not aware if he has any other hobby," says his father, Kirpal Singh, who retired from Indian Air Force in the early 80s. "In 1995, Paramjit had gone to Australia to participate in World Police Games. There he met someone from our area who is now well settled and owns a five star hotel besides other business and properties. He was so impressed by Paramjit that he offered to sponsor him probably with an intention of getting one of his four daughters married to him.

"But Paramjit politely turned down his offer, saying that he has an important target set for himself. Until he achieves that target, he cannot think of anything else. And that target was nothing else but rewriting Milkha Singh’s record. For the past eight years, he had only this target in mind.

"Early this year, he told me that the Asian Games was the last opportunity for him to accomplish him aim. The last time he came to the village here was about a month ago. Accompanied by thrower Neelam J. Singh, Paramjit had specially come to Ludhiana to attend a meeting of sportsmen and women of Punjab Police to express his solidarity with them. At that time, we tried to persuade him and Neelam to stay a day extra, but they did not agree. They returned to Patiala on their way to Calcutta.

"I have been a little worried as he did not run in Calcutta during the recently concluded inter-state meet. He was supposed to run there also," says Kirpal Singh.

He and Amrik Kaur proudly display a bagful of medals won by Paramjit Singh during his eight-year athletic career beginning with the National School Games at Kanyakumari where he set the track on fire by clocking 47 seconds in 400 metres flat. This performance got him a job offer from the CRPF. An Inspector followed him to his school at Tanda and offered to appoint him a Head Constable.

Paramjit accepted the offer after obtaining his father’s consent. He was unhappy for while as athletes of much lower capabilities than him were appointed Sub-Inspector directly. In 1994, when he was adjudged the best athlete in the inter-sectoral athletic meet, he was elevated as Sub-Inspector.

The same year, he went to Hiroshima Asian Games where he ended with a bronze medal. In 1995, he won a silver in 400 metres at the SAF Games at Chennai by clocking 46.33 seconds. During the same year, he won three gold medals in the World Police Games at Melbourne.He repeated with a triple gold haul at the next edition of the World Police Games at Calgary in 1997. In 1996, he was promoted Inspector.

In fact, the year 1997 was best for him. On six occasions, he clocked less than 46 seconds. In the past years, he did not have much of international exposure. He finished fifth in the Asian Athletic Meet at Fukuoka where he clocked less than 46 seconds. His main rival in Asia is none other than the Asian champion Sugath Tillekratne. Sugath had won a bronze in the KL Commonwealth Games where Paramjit was not sent.

Not many in the area know that the boy who has broken the oldest record of Indian athletics is from their region. Devinder Singh, a farmer at neighbouring Pathial village, was not aware of Paramjit’s feat. No one either from the village or the district administration has visited the "Rehill" family to congratulate it on "Raju’s remarkable feat".

On the other hand, Deepak Dhingra, a resident of Panchkula, who had a chance meeting with Paramjit sometime ago, in a letter addressed to the new 400-metre record holder, has offered to facilitate him and his parents by inviting them to Panchkula. He had also offered a cash award of Rs 5,000 and a memento for Paramjit.