Gone in a laugh

Jyoti Marianne Bahri shares a bittersweet story about a dear friend who laughed his way through life. And death too, leaving her with the message of eternal life

- Jyoti Marianne Bahri

I met Daljeet in the late seventies on my first trip to Iran. I had never travelled to Asia before and hardly knew anything about Iran. I followed my adventurous spirit and took on the short-term assignment only because I expected to stay with my friends, Nina and her husband, Ram. They had visited me the previous year along with their baby in Germany.

When I landed in Tehran, my friends were in the process of shifting out of town. I was very disappointed and scared. Finding a place to stay in Tehran was challenging and unsafe, especially for a single young woman. So Ram and Nina helped me find another place to stay.

Their close friends, three architects from India, had rented a flat nearby. At that time, they had gone on a month-long vacation, and the flat was empty. It was a lovely four-bedroom apartment with large windows and a spacious living room big enough to play cricket. The friends were all avid photographers and had converted one of the rooms into a darkroom to print their pictures. They had hung up large photographs of themselves on the wall. Nina told me about each one while showing me their photos. I liked the place and was happy that I could stay there.

Meeting Daljeet

I moved in and settled down comfortably. The doors of the bedrooms were usually left open while I was there. But one morning, I woke up to find all the doors shut tight. Surprised, I opened the doors one by one, wondering who could have come in. When I opened the third bedroom, I was in for a shock. I saw a being with a black beard sleeping, curled up in a mass of long black hair. I almost shrieked, but I quickly recognised the face from the photographs on the wall.

Later, I discovered this hairy man was Daljeet, a Sardar from India. He introduced himself and explained about his early return to Tehran. I also learned about Sikhism and that uncut hair was part of religious practice.