Comedian Sudesh Lehri opened up about his youth in Amritsar, and said that he never went to school because his family couldn’t afford to send him to one. As a result, he cannot speak in English, and is practically illiterate. In an interview, he said that he hired a manager to look after his business matters after he was duped on the first season of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge. He said that he didn’t know the difference between ‘fifty’ and ‘fifteen’, and when he was asked how much he wanted on the show, he said ‘Rs 15,000’, even though the number in his mind was 50. It was after this incident that he hired a manager.
Appearing on Aman Aujla’s podcast, he opened up about the harsh conditions he experienced in his youth, when his family had only Rs 100 to celebrate Diwali. “I was 17 when I got married. My wife was 15. We had no idea what we were doing. When we had kids, we didn’t know what to do. There was no money. Everything was makeshift. We couldn’t afford hospital fees either,” he said, adding, “I’m uneducated. I’m illiterate. I never went to school, not even nursery or kindergarten. I’ve never been inside a school. We didn’t have the money. I used to work for pennies at shops. I worked as a mechanic. I couldn’t read signboards even. But I knew I wanted to become an actor. I couldn’t read, but I could memorise lines.”
Asked about his relationship with money now that he owns several houses, drives in huge cars, and wears designer clothes, he said, “I believe in spending money. Money is of no use if it’s lying in your account. I remember when I was a kid in Amritsar, we didn’t have money to buy firecrackers or sweets on Diwali. I asked how much we have, and they said we had Rs 100. I thought that was a lot, because you’re not going to eat 2 kgs of sweets by yourself, are you? I bought sweets for Rs 50, and then a couple of candles. We had the best Diwali. I took everyone to our roof, and told them to imagine that our neighbours were our servants. They were lighting firecrackers at our command, because we didn’t want to get our hands dirty. I told them to use their imagination.”
He said that he would even imagine going to five-star hotels for dinners. “I believe in spending money. My first car was a second-hand Indigo, and I had so much fun with it. Then, there was a time when I had five houses in Mumbai,” he said, adding that his son encourages him to buy designer clothes. “I don’t even understand the appeal, but he likes it, and eventually he’s the one who ends up wearing my Gucci shoes,” Sudesh said.
