But his forehead lines with creases when he talks about Punjab athletics. He is saddened at the decline and politicisation of sports in Punjab. Though he's a resident of Delhi, Gurbachan Singh Randhawa keeps himself posted with the happenings in Punjab athletics.
And he's disturbed to hear the news that about 200 athletes of Punjab have submitted a memorandum to the Punjab Amateur Athletic Association (PAAA) that they would not take part in the National Games if the present set of office-bearers continue.
Gurbachan Singh Randhawa had scorched the track of the Tokyo Stadium when he won the 110 metres hurdles gold, clocking 14.07 secs, in the 1964 Asian Games.
His Tokyo time stood the test of time for 37 long years before it was officially broken by young Punjab hurdler Gurpreet Singh at the National Open Meet at Lucknow a few weeks back.
Gurpreet's electronically clocked timing of 14.00 seconds, broke Randhawa's record, for record's sake, though it's not practically possible to convert Randhawa's hand-timed 14.07 into an electronically clocked 14 seconds.
But Randhawa prefers not to join issue with anyone, and wishes well for Gurpreet, who, he believes, has the potential of clocking a time of sub 14
secs.
Randhawa's own son, Ranjeet Randhawa, himself was a hurdler of high promise who had clocked 13.49 secs in an All-Comers Athletic Meet at Santa Barbara (California) on June 27, 1996. Since the timing was wind-assisted by more than the permissible limit, Gurbachan did not approach the Amateur Athletic Federation of India to ratify the record.
Ranjeet, effectively, was the first to break his father's record, but Randhawa was too modest to make a song and dance about it. Ranjeet left athletics when he was peaking, so to say, to pursue a Masters in computer science and international relations. And he's none the worse for that, as he's a successful businessman now.
Sports, they say, are in the genes. And in the case of the Randhawa family, the saying fits like a perfect 'T'.
Gurbachan Singh Randhawa's wife, Jaswinder Randhawa, was a promising discus thrower and shotputter, when she called it quits from athletics. Following in the footsteps of her two brothers–thrower Jaskaran Singh Sandhu and decathelete.
Balraj Singh Sandhu--Jaswinder also took to throwing like a duck to water. Interestingly, her father was a good swimmer and grandfather was a wrestler.
She represented the Kurukshetra University in the Inter-Varsity Athletic Meet at the Annamali University in 1965, and hauled the discus gold. She lifted a silver medal in the National Meet for Punjab, in Bangalore, in 1966.
She represented her University and the State for three years from 1964 to '66. Kamlesh Atwal of Delhi was the reigning queen of women's throw events. But Jaswinder carved a niche for herself under the care of coach 'Tiger' Joginder Singh, and quit the scene when she was still at her peak.
When she tied the knot with Gurbachan Singh Randhawa in 1969, Jaswinder carried forward her sporting tradition to another illustrious sporting family of Punjab.
For, Gurbachan's father Maj. Tehal Singh Randhawa was a renowned sportsman, and two of Randhawa's brothers were also very good sportsmen. H S Randhawa is a former national coach, while Joginder Singh is a volleyball player.
Gurbachan donates Rs 2,000 he receives every month as pension for his Arjuna Award for the sports training of three athletes and one hockey player in Punjab. He has also created a trust in the name of his father, to help promising sportspersons.
Both Gurbachan and Jaswinder opine that today's kids do not put in enough hours for training, though the facilities are far better now. On a personal note, Jaswinder agrees with a shy smile that being a sports couple “life is compatible and easy. And we can guide our children too in sports. It's a plus point".
But when their own son wanted to concentrate on his education, rather than on his hurdling, the Randhawas did not come on his way. For, in their scheme of things, education was as important as sports, to make it big in life.
