Sakhi Gulestan, 1930s–2008 The Birdman of Dupont Circle
Sakhi Gulestan
(Peter Muller)
Sakhi Gulestan, a vendor who sold umbrellas, scarves, and other merchandise in Dupont Circle for nearly 25 years, died Saturday, March 29, inside a rented box truck in which he was living.
Gulestan, known as “Mohammed” by many in the neighborhood, was a fixture at 20th and Q Streets. He often gave away more than he sold. Although his age is unknown—he estimated he was in his 70s—his wife of 34 years remembers the December her husband got his vending license and began working in D.C.. It was 1983, “one of the coldest Decembers in ages,” says Phoenix Gulestan, who is in her 60s and lives off and on in the family’s other vehicle, a van with West Virginia tags parked off the intersection.
Phoenix, an American, met and married Sakhi in Afghanistan, where he was born. She arrived in that country from Nepal, where she had been living as a Buddhist monk. Her memory of their introduction is doused with spiritual references, including a premonition that she would meet a “Mexican bandito” in Levis and a black jacket. When she met her husband a few days later, she says, he matched the description exactly. She often refers to herself as a student and follower of Sakhi and converted to Islam, his religion, before the Soviets invaded Afghanistan and they decided to leave.
In D.C., after dismantling his vending stand each night, Sakhi visited neighborhood eateries to collect leftover bread, sandwiches, and pastries that were destined for alley Dumpsters. After offering a modest portion to his wife and two adult sons, he would distribute the remaining food to people he knew in Dupont Circle.
“There were points where Mohammed was feeding hundreds of people who had nothing,” says Tim, who didn’t give his last name and describes himself as a homeless veteran. “I can remember when I first met him when I came into this town in 1986. He said, ‘My friend, you’re hungry.’ He left for a minute, and he came back and fed me.”
Sakhi, he says, would often come through the circle late at night, waking up people sleeping on benches and passing out food he’d collected. The items he could not distribute to people he saved for the birds.
Every day at 3 p.m., he collected hot water from Dupont Flowers and spent 30 minutes soaking and crushing bread into an easily spreadable mixture. He would then cast the stew out for pigeons and gulls.
He considered feeding the birds the most sacred part of his day. He often talked about their importance and the purity of their existence and took no heed of possible fines for littering or public nuisance. Some members of the community took issue with these feedings, expressing concern that they attracted not just birds but rats.
Sakhi also gave away umbrellas every time it rained, says Alcaly Lo, a clerk at Connecticut Avenue Liquor who sold him cigarettes on most days. Sakhi distributed umbrellas at the Starbucks at Connecticut and R, too. “My umbrella stand at home contains five or six umbrellas, all of which were from him. He was always looking out for us,” says Robert Wilson, a morning manager there.
Phoenix says even as he grew old, few could keep up with her husband, including her.
“When he asked me to marry him, he also asked me why I’d marry him,” she says. “I’ll tell the truth. I’ve never seen anyone with the patience and the ability to give regardless of who or what or why. It starts at 5 o’clock in the morning and does not end until 1 o’clock at night.”
Phoenix has a place to stay in West Virginia but preferred to be at 20th and Q, close to Sakhi. They talked often about their daughter, Mountain, who died from AIDS-related complications at the age of 13. She had contracted HIV through a blood transfusion. “Her death was very difficult for both of them,” explains an employee at Dupont Flowers who has known Sakhi for the last 20 years. “When his daughter was in the hospital, he would come in every day to buy a flower for her.” Phoenix believes that Mountain’s spirit will someday return and keeps a meticulous count of the days since her death in 1994.
Although Sakhi suffered from an abdominal hernia, he otherwise appeared in good health and worked up until his death. His wife and sons found him in the truck after an acquaintance, a Jamaican woman who had come to return $4 she borrowed, told them that her knocks at the window did not get a response. He died around 9:45 a.m. The family plans a memorial for him on April 17 at a yet-to-be-announced location.
The day after his death, friends and those who knew him in passing left flowers and messages at the corner of 20th and Q Streets NW.
“Your spirit will live on,” one man wrote, along with several more words in Farsi.
“All the homeless people out here loved having him around,” says Tim, the vet. “He brought life into the park. He brought the birds.…He was the birdman.”
Apr. 11 - 17, 2008 (Vol. 28, #15)
Comments
12:33 pm
What a great piece!
One of the best I've ever read.
M.
3:31 pm
Mr. Muller -- Thank you for this. I am one of the Gulistan extended family and love this man and his little family. I live in the PG County and work in DC. I take public transit and am at Dupont Circle every day.
When I started 6 years ago, I saw this funny little man who was in a hurry all the time. I saw him feed the birds and was touched, as I love to watch animals had the opportunity to do so.
About 5 years ago, he had a lovely scarf for sale. I asked how much it was. I didn't have enough. He handed me the scarf and told me to pay it when I could. In that moment, my life and my perception of him, and all mankind was changed. He trusted a stranger without hesitation. I began to sort of hang around and talk, mostly to the women. But I always have a smile and a "Hello for Gulistan and it was returned with genuine affection.
I have become close with his wife and the rest of his family, even their dog. I have learned so much and have laughed and cried. Recently, he gave me bread for my dinner. It made me cry. In that act, he gave me his heart.
I have respected and loved this man and his wife for, I believe, longer than I have known them.
Is there a way I can get copies of your pictures? It would mean much. Please contact me at the above e-mail if you are so inclined.
Thank you again, for your sensitive and thoughtful article about a wonderful man with love for the world.
7:06 pm
Thank you for this profile.
9:36 pm
He was the sweetest man and he will be missed...seriously your article really shed light on a very mysterious family. He was always kind and friendly...may he rest in peace.
11:45 pm
I saw him everyday for years outside the Dupont North Metro escalator while I was working in the area. Bought two Afghan caps, a pair of sunglasses, and countless umbrellas from him, but I never knew his name. Thanks for the tribute; he will be missed.
(Oh, could you NOT autoplay a loud talking Flash slideshow at the bottom of the article where no one can see where the sudden sound is coming from? Thanks.)
8:29 am
RIP
9:59 am
He will be missed. May he rest in peace. This is a very good article and presentation. Thanks for doing this about Mr. Gulestan.
2:10 pm
One night Mr. Gulestan offered me bread after I headed to a local bakery that had shut its doors. It was a cold night and I was a hungry graduate student attending SAIS nearby. Sakhi looked at me and told me to wait, and returned with a few muffins. I immediately recognized the significance of his gift and was deeply humbled by his act. As a neighbor I have often passed him by assuming indifference to his life, but for all my arrogated self-indulgence I have never approached the excellence of such a man. Let his life remind us of our potential for greatness,
Ian
4:21 pm
This is the consciousness of heart. I am reading this story with tears streaming down my face. Bismalah.
12:00 am
Nice article. What a great family.
12:02 am
With greetings and thanks for sharing your heart-warming knowledge and spirit-lifting story of the late Sakhi Gulestan, i would very much appreciate your letting me know about the exact time and place of his burial and funeral (if any, for usually, the rites of these kind of us are carried out by their guardian angels, and a long procession of others angels from different corners of the heavens!)
12:12 am
With greetings and thanks for sharing your hear-warming knowledge and spirit-lifting story of the late Sakhi Gulestan, i would appreciate very much letting me know exactly when and where it would be his burial and funeral (if any, for the rites of this kind of us is carried out by his guardian angels and others angels from other corners of the heavens.
4:45 am
Does anybody know what happened to Beth, the homeless woman in Georgetown that used to have all the crazy signs? She used to sit close to the intersection of M and Wisc Ave. Haven't seen her in quite a while but she was a Georgetown fixture for a long time.
11:45 pm
Yes, please inform us of the exact time and place of the public memorial. I would like to attend and am coming from New York.
9:43 am
beautiful piece
5:10 am
I have faint recollections of the so-called "bird man." Through his story, we are called to reexamine the plight of the homeless in our country, and to appreciate people like Sakhi, whom demonstrate generosity despite having so little. Thanks for calling our attention to this article, Pete.
12:01 pm
What a wonderful story, Pete. I bought an umbrella from him when I first moved to DC years and years .......... ago.
Thanks for sharing this with so many of us who only knew him as a street vendor.
9:29 pm
reading all these comments about my father has brought tears to my eyes!
the side of him that all of you have written about is the side of him i have always wanted to be like!! this kind, warm ,good hearted ,generous, giving , strong man.
i grow up with a another side of him, one unlike the man you are talking about. i wanted to be nothing like this side of him!!
i am happy that the side you all write about is the one i loved!!
i wish that i could have been like the strangers he touched, than maybe i could have had good memories too!!!
he is gone now.....so now i ask for forgiveness for him and pray for him.
he is my dad and i love him!!!!!!
his daughter,
soul
1:47 pm
A beautiful and compassionate tribute to the fascinating, troubled and enigmatic man I knew simply as Gulistan. His presence was so ubiquitous, it is hard to imagine he will no longer be a part of Dupont Circle.
I send my prayers for his soul's journey, may he be reunited with Mountain. And my heart goes out to his family, Soul and her brothers and of course Phoenix.
Soul, your comments were so heart-felt and honest.What a wise woman you have become!
Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim.
10:40 am
Thank you...
3:23 pm
I knew and was touched by the Gulestan family when I lived in DC and worked in a nearby coffeeshop. They were a very giving and hardworking family and all were unique spirits. My heart goes out to them. Soul, I never met you, but please tell your brothers and mom that I am thinking of them, as I often have.
1:47 pm
My heart goes out to Mohammed's family. I worked at a coffee shop by their stand at Dupont circle and was truly amazed by the entire family. Soul, I never had the chance to meet you, but please pass on my thoughts to your brothers and your mom. I have thought of all of them over the years and wish them and you the best.