When an Indian carpenter won a Chess Olympiad medal, & the diving Transporter| #115

Also, when Manchester ran out of cilantro ➡️

Jul 30, 2022

Hello friends,

“Sir U Made Lakhs” was a joke that made the rounds in 2010. It anagrams to Suresh Kalmadi who was in charge of organizing the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Initially called The British Empire Games, the first edition of the CWG was organised in 1930 in Hamilton, Canada. This year’s edition features athletes from 72 countries and features India’s top athletes taking part.

This week’s newsletter is dedicated to interesting stories from the Commonwealth Games.

Things we learnt this week 🤓

Much before he became a mercenary transporter, Jason Statham was a world class diver, good enough to represent England at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland. You can see his performance during the games here.

Milkha Singh won India’s first Commonwealth Games gold. He did so winning the 440 yards race at the 1958 Cardiff Games. Jawaharlal Nehru asked Milkha what would he like as a gift for bringing such laurels to the country, Milkha is said to have asked for a holiday for the country. Interestingly, he beat Malcolm Spence, the man he lost the Olympics bronze to in 1960. In a high stakes race, Milkha lost his (S)pence.

Milkha Singh winning the gold and not Relax Singh

Imagine you are the goalkeeper of the Indian hockey team. You are playing a big final in Delhi against arch-rivals Pakistan. It turns out to be a nightmare and you concede 7 goals. You quit hockey. Life gives you a second chance and you are made the goalkeeping coach of the women’s hockey team at the Commonwealth Games. And lo and behold, the team wins the gold.. Sounds like a movie where Shah Rukh Khan would play the lead? Well, that’s pretty much how Mir Ranjan Negi’s life panned out. His redemption arc, after helping the Indian women’s team win a surprise gold at the 2002 Manchester Games, inspired the film ‘Chak De India’.