Comedian-actor Vir Das “stole” bathrobe ropes to prepare a makeshift handle for carrying his Emmy trophy while returning to India, he said in a note to mark one year of the feat on Thursday, recalling his eventful journey from John F. Kennedy International Airport to India following the historic win.

“True short story. A year ago today. I won an Emmy. It was all very much a haze. All I knew was I had an early flight to India the next day and they give it to you in a big black box with no handles. So I stole the bathrobe ropes and made one. Carried the damned thing through JFK like I had stolen it. Flew home Air India,” Vir wrote, sharing a picture of his award in a black box laced with bathrobe ropes.

The 45-year-old comedian-actor took home the best comedian award at the Emmys in 2023 for his Netflix comedy special Landing. Vir was nominated for an Emmy in the Comedy category in 2021 for his comedy special Vir Das: For India.

Narrating his experience about sharing a surreal moment with the Air India crew, Vir said, “Passed out for 10 hours. I was exhausted, the adrenalin finally caved. When I woke up, the cabin crew were like “You slept a lot sir”. Ten seconds of polite convo. Then they said “We heard, congrats!” Thirty more seconds of polite convo. Then one said “Can we see it?”. So they drew the curtains, and I undid the makeshift handle and three of us kind of looked at it, 30,000 feet in the air. No one said anything. In all the madness of the night I’d never really just looked at it. We all just thought “Well…..Fuck”.”

“Then they gave me breakfast. It hit me that the Emmy was for a show about an Air India flight home to face the end of a career,” he added.

Vir Das will host the 52nd International Emmy Awards to be held on November 25 in New York City, becoming the first Indian to join the list of hosts for the annual event.

Apart from his stand-up career, Vir Das has made his mark in television and film, both as a creator and performer. He has produced and starred in series like the spy dramedy Whiskey Cavalier, Netflix’s Hasmukh, and the travel show Jestination Unknown for Prime Video. Additionally, he has acted in films such as Delhi Belly (2011) and Go Goa Gone (2013).

Vir recently appeared as a news anchor in Prime Video’s Call Me Bae. He is currently on his international Mind Fool tour.