Former Indian women volleyball team captain Nirmal Kaur, wife of Milkha Singh, died at a Mohali hospital due to complications related to Covid-19 infection she had contracted last month. She was 85 and is survived by her husband, three daughters: Mona Singh, Aleeza Grover, Sonia Sanwalka and son Jeev Milkha Singh.
“We are deeply saddened to inform you that Mrs Nirmal Milkha Singh passed away after a valiant battle against Covid at 4 pm today,” a statement from the spokesperson of the Milkha family said. “A back bone of the Milkha Family, she was 85 years old. It is tragic that the Flying Sikh Milkha Singh ji could not attend the cremation which was conducted this evening itself as he is still in the ICU (of PGIMER in Chandigarh) himself.”
The 1958 Commonwealth Games champion was admitted to the medical institute on 3 June after complaining of breathlessness. She suffered from Covid pneumonia and was on High Flow Nasal Cannula (HFNC) and Non Invasive Ventilation (NIV) support.
Daughter of Mehar Chand Saini and coming from Punjabi khatri family based in Pathankot, Nirmal was the former Director of Sports for Women in the Punjab Government and ex-captain of the Indian national volleyball team. She also worked as joint director sports, Chandigarh, and director sports, Chandigarh, after her retirement from Punjab. The couple had first met in Sri Lanka in 1959, where Milkha Singh had gone to compete in an athletics competition and Nirmal was captaining the Indian women’s volleyball team.
She was a student of College of Physical Education, Patiala, and in 1960, she had joined as Deputy Physical Education (DPE) Instructor at Lady Irwin College, Delhi.
“Nimmi is a devoted wife and mother. I am still amazed by how efficiently she manages her personal and professional life without letting either of them suffer,” Milkha Singh had written about his wife Nirmal Kaur in the chapter ‘The jewels in my crown’ in his autobiography ‘The Race of My Life’ released in 2013.
