DARA SINGH

Dara Singh, the Original Superman to all Indians, passed away on 12 July 2012. He has left behind an entire generation of men and women, who in their childhood, loved this man and adored him for his boundless strength. Indeed, Dara Singh was the substitute for all that we as a society and a nation, in the dismal decades of sixties and seventies, longed for - strength and courage.

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Dara Singh is dead, long live Dara Singh!

Dara Singh, the eternal superhero of our time, the object of all our childhood fantasies of the ultimate in strength and power, is no more. Even though he had passed away unnoticed into the noisy alleys of the modern era of fake heroes and animated supergiants, he remained an object of admiration in our subconscious, something our children and grandchildren will never understand.

Wasn’t Dara Singh always on the side of every child? If you fought with someone, you presumed that Dara Singh would side with you because your cause was always right. India lost the war with China, simply because our army did not deploy the ultimate war machine, Dara Singh against the foes. Wouldn’t he alone have decimated single-handedly the mighty PLA? Wouldn’t he have been an impregnable moving frontier against the marauding Chinese, their tanks and aircraft, their guns and grenades? Well, they corrected their mistake and sent Dara Singh to the front when the Pakistanis attacked us in 1965 and in 1971.

Dara Singh was the Superman, the Batman, the Spiderman all rolled into one. He was also the single-body incarnation of the Phantom, the Lothar and the King Kong. The icon of our imagination, where puny fighter like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mike Tyson and Sylvester Stallone would qualify for only valets of the greatest, the mighty Dara Singh. The WWE and the World Wrestling and Boxing Championships would be mere sideshows in the presence of our protector, fighter and guardian. Children of today, whose software heroes live in PS3, Wii and in Cartoon Channels would find it impossible to comprehend that a bigger hero did exist in flesh and blood, the hero of their fathers and grandfathers, one who could never be excelled or defeated, one who was larger than the combined lives of the Hulk, the Hellboy and Keanu Reeves .

Dara Singh of our imagination was not only unbeatable in strength but also in virtues and the do-good intentions. He could always be counted upon to come and vanquish your enemies (frenemies?). After all weren’t you always right and deserved his support most naturally. But, Dara Singh disappointed us all when he took up those lover-boy roles beside the demure Mumtaz! I guess every macho hero has his weaknesses too. So, I and my friends decided to forgive Dara Singh with heavy hearts. O Dara Singh! Why didn’t you wait some years more? You could have had the entire trio of Charlie’s Angels, who would not only be as beautiful but also of an equal fighting class.

Dara Singh! Now that you are gone, “the fight has gone out of our lives”.

We will miss you Dara Singh!