Legendary athlete Milkha Singh today remembered wrestler and Bollywood actor Dara Singh as a brother and a self-made man. The 'Flying Sikh' recalled his old association with Dara, saying he was a self-made man who had risen from a humble rural background.

"He was just like a brother to me. I recall in 1955-56 we stayed in a same hotel in Mumbai when we were practising in that city for a sports event," Milkha told PTI here. He said that whenever Dara used to visit his Chandigarh residence, which was adjacent to Milkha's house in upscale Sector 8 here, the latter made it a point to visit him.

"Whenever he was in Chandigarh, first he used to come to my house early in the morning after a walk. We used to have a cup of tea and have breakfast together. Our free-wheeling chats for hours used to cover topics from films to sports etc," Milkha recalled.