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“Two of the reasons I did this were: first, my love of flying and, second, to set a precedent for the community so they know you can be in your Sikh appearance and do anything out there; so that my younger brothers and sisters (the rising generation) will pursue their passions while practicing their Sikh faith.”

Kaur has chosen to follow her passion;

Harinder Singh, executive director of the Sikh Research Institute (SikhRI) in San Antonio, Texas said, “This is a great day for the Sikhs in America. Religious accommodation, not assimilation, is what the founders of this great nation envisioned and we are thrilled American Airlines celebrates the rich religious and cultural diversity of all American populations.”

I follow Sikhism, and maybe I’ve channelled the discipline that religion creates into my cricket. There’s discipline with any religion, and you can take it into a game or into anything else.

“Religion has helped me, as did Kepler Wessels (the former Northants coach) last year.

unruly beard

People may have been looking at guys in the street with beards and feeling negative about them. Monty makes them feel good.”

Fauja Singh shot to fame in 2000, when aged 89, he completed the gruelling 26.2 mile (about 42 km) distance in 6 hours and 54 minutes. This knocked 58 minutes off the previous world best for anyone in the 90 plus age bracket.

In 2004, Adidas signed him up for its 'Nothing Is Impossible' advertising campaign. He won't reveal how much money the deal involves, but says that a large part of his earnings went to charity.

AT THE age of 97, Fauja Singh is an unlikely poster boy in the battle to encourage people to take more exercise. But as he crossed the finish line after a 10km race in Glasgow yesterday, he issued a rallying call to couch potatoes and gym-dodgers nationwide: "If I can do it, anyone can do it."

"I run ten miles every other day and run shorter distances the days in between," he said. "Seventeen members of my extended family are also runners so I have helped encourage them and hopefully other people as well."

n the senior category, he not only set a new 200m record, but halved it from 76.8 seconds to 49.28 seconds! He also set the British record for 400 meters, 800m, 1 mile, and 3000m. “He is an inspiration because he has set five UK records. He has achieved more in one day than an athlete normally does in a lifetime,” said Bridget Cushen, Secretary, British Masters Athletic Federation. “If that wasn’t enough, he attempted all the records in under 94 minutes.”

“Fauja” is the Sikh name meaning “Army General” and he is true to his proud roots as the Sikhs are famous for their military prowess. They turn marvelous skill to peaceful activities, too, and many are great athletes.

Fauja has found the delicate balance aspired to by Sikhs between being a great Khalsa soldier and a great Khalsa saint. Fauja also is very aware about being a role model, and it is inspirational for young Sikh’s the world over, to see their proud military heritage, ability and training can be transformed into other healthy past-times, too.

emulating him

He started his academic career as an English teacher before switching to Hindi and then to Punajbi. He worked at the University of Delhi as Professor Emeritus until he retired in 1984. He was a visited and gave lectures at many prestigious universities and institutions including the Indian Institute of Technology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Punjab University[disambiguation needed], Jammu University and Gwahauti University.

He was invited to join the Department of Modern Indian Languages by a Board of Experts (a board of anthropologists and linguists), including Professor Pritam Singh, who Singh supported greatly until his death.