When Dara Singh gave three reasons why Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru should meet him: ‘One, to shake hands with him, second…’

On Dara Singh's 94th birth anniversary, we revisit the time when he discussed the plight of Indian wrestlers with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

Dara Singh was born on November 19, 1928. (Express archive photo)

Late actor Dara Singh had an illustrious career in the field of wrestling before he made it to the Hindi film industry. He was a trained wrestler who travelled across the world and won several tournaments and championships. In 1954, he won the Rustam-e-Hind tournament and in 1968, he won the World Championship. While he was travelling to various countries, he was offered US citizenship in 1959, but he refused as he said he loves to live in his country. Also, in the same year, when he returned to India, he wrote a letter to the then-Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and requested to meet him.

In the book Deedara aka Dara Singh by Seema Sonik Alimchand, it was revealed that Singh gave three reasons on why Pt. Nehru should meet him, with whom he was fascinated since he first saw him in 1956. An excerpt from the book mentioned, “He wrote a letter to the Prime Minister’s office, citing three reasons to meet him. One, to shake hands with him so that he could tell people that he’d met Jawaharlal Nehru; second, to invite him for the ongoing Commonwealth championships; and lastly because of his friend, the wrestling promoter, M Gogi whose lifelong dream had been to meet the Prime Minister.”

Also read | Dara Singh stopped eating non-vegetarian food while shooting for Ramayan, used to recite dialogues in his sleep

A week later Dara Singh got a call from the PMO and he was informed about his appointment with the PM. When they met, Pt. Nehru’s aide introduced Singh as, “Panditji, this is Pehalwan Dara Singh, who has made a name for himself internationally. Every country that he visits, he gets the top billing.” After the introduction, the PM asked Singh about the countries he has visited and how the wrestlers of other countries are different from those in India.

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Raj Kapoor and Dara Singh. (Express archive photo)

Singh told the PM, “There, the wrestlers have associations that look after their needs and their diet. But here, wrestlers have to manage on their own.” On this, the PM suggested he start an association to take care of the needs of the wrestlers in the country. In the same meeting, Singh requested the PM to attend the Commonwealth Championship which was happening in the country at that time but he couldn’t make it.

Born in a Jat Sikh family to Balwant Kaur and Surat Singh Randhawa on November 19, 1928, Dara Singh is also remembered for his variety of roles in cinema and on the small screen, the most memorable being that of Hanuman in the iconic show Ramayan. His last on-screen appearance was in Imtiaz Alia’s Jab We Met. He passed away on July 12, 2012.

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