'Dara Singh bridged gap between South Asia and Southeast Asia'

Indian wrestling icon Dara Singh bridged the gap between South Asia and Southeast Asia and even wrestled in 1948 to raise anti-tuberculosis funds in Singapore, according to a new book launched here.
The book named "Nation At Play: A History of Sport in India" written by Ronojoy Sen, a Senior Research Fellow at think tank Institute of South Asia Studies (ISAS) in the National University of Singapore, was released on Wednesday.
The book covers India's sporting glory on international stage with sporting legends including Milkha Singh, P T Usha, Mary Kom, Abhinav Bindra, hockey stick wizard Dhyan Chand and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.

Singh's contribution to raise anti-tuberculosis fund in Singapore in 1948 have been mentioned in the book.
"Dara Singh was one sportsperson who bridged the gap between South and Southeast Asia," Sen wrote.
Singh, whose original name was Deedar Singh Randhawa and was born in Punjab in 1928, joined Bollywood films, becoming one of the first to bring the sports and film industry together in India.
Singh acted in more than 115 films, writes Sen in the 382-page book, which reaches as far back as ancient times.