(Did you know “A joke a day keeps the doctor away”? Unless he happens to be your fun-Doctor, in which case enhanced empathy with him is the outcome!)

Daara Singh, in his hey- day as the World Freestyle Wrestling Champion received an offer to star in his first Bollywood phillum. Along with it came a one way air ticket to Bombay.

An excited Daara reached Palam Airport, all agog to board the plane. As soon as it landed on tarmac, he made a dash for it. A worried attendant cautioned him with a “wait, please!”  Daara Singh, with his abundant (mis) understanding of English, heard in his mind “weight, please?” and gleefully blurted out with a puffed up chest: “Two Hundred & Fifty Kg.”!

The air-hostess inside the plane got to know about his star-status and began to drool over & bee around him. Her indulgent “Are you comfortable & ‘relaxing’, Sir?” evoked a “No, I am Daara Singh” from an indignant Daara who chose, nevertheless, to forgive the pretty young thing for what he perceived to be her faux pas!

A little while later, while the plane was airborne, Daara suddenly sneezed and the entire plane shook violently. A thoroughly concerned hostess dashed to his seat with the medicine chest & asked him solicitously, “Are you suffering from cold?”, only to hear him contemptuously reply “No, I am ‘safar ’ing from Delhi to Bombay” !

(In “reverential good-humour” only to a true Indian Idol of his times who ‘safar’ed straight into the hearts of his innumerable fans, his last outing having been in the role of the ‘adorable grandpa’ in JAB WE MET !)