It has been a very tough time for the Upadhyayas since May 22, when JD Majethia-Aatish Kapadia’s Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai’s Jasmine aka
Vaibhavi Upadhyaya
‘s brother Ankit’s phone rang to convey to him that his sister had passed away. We bring you the details of that call and the entire tale of horror herewith, as told to us by Ankit FIRST and EXCLUSIVE:
We are very sorry to contact you and we would be very grateful to you if you could tell us what exactly transpired with Vaibhavi on May 22…
My phone has been ringing incessantly and I haven’t spoken to anyone. But I believe that you and ETimes TV will represent it absolutely correctly. So I shall tell you.
It all began when I got a call from the police in Himachal Pradesh. They said that my sister Vaibhavi had died in a
road accident
. I just couldn’t believe it. I went numb.
I was told that a heavy vehicle had brushed her vehicle, that too at its rear when it had almost passed it cleanly, and her car toppled in a ditch (valley). My sister was thrown outside the car. The locals gathered and took her to a hospital almost immediately. But she was declared dead on arrival.
Meanwhile, her fiance Jai Gandhi who was driving the car lay still trapped for a few minutes, until a few more locals gathered to bring him out from the car. Jai had to break the windshield to come out. By then, the earlier lot of locals had taken Vaibhavi and were on their way to a hospital.
It was a steep turn, where this happened…
No. In fact, it was a normal lane, which even had shops. And, Jai and Vaibhavi’s car was adjacent to a ditch, which was between two shops- when the truck coming from the opposite direction brushed it.
Mind you, Jai was not driving fast. They were not drunk either. And let me tell you that Vaibhavi was wearing a seatbelt. The postmortem clearly revealed that there were marks on her body that indicated that the seatbelt had been worn. Her seatbelt must have apparently broken when the car toppled. Jai too was wearing his seatbelt.
Vaibhavi was hurt in the ribs and her lungs and liver ruptured. That must have had an effect on the heart as the blood from the liver and lungs must have stopped flowing to the heart.
Where were Vaibhavi and Jai going on May 22?
They were actually supposed to go to Tirtham but that was shut for some reason. Someone from the hotel, where they were staying in Jibhi at that time, suggested that they go to Manali as there had been a snowfall en route. They were on their way to Manali when the tragedy happened. From Manali, they were supposed to come back to Mumbai.
Where did the mishap exactly happen?
It happened in the Banjar district. Vaibhavi was rushed to the Banjar Civil Hospital.
When did Vaibhavi and Jai leave Mumbai?
They left Mumbai on May 15. I spoke to Vaibhavi last on Sunday, May 21. They had gone up North all the way by car.
Please continue…
The police had detained Jai after the accident as the prime suspect. I rushed to Himachal Pradesh and got him released. They didn’t even allow him to see Vaibhavi until I reached. They wanted someone from Vaibhavi’s family to give a statement before they would let him go.
My mother has not been able to take this. She is weak. My father has been trying to put up a brave front. We have still not been able to process this. I think it would be only after a day or two that we would understand what we have lost.
Would Jai and Vaibhavi’s marriage been a love marriage or an arranged one?
Arranged. Both families know each other.
When were they planning to get married?
We all were supposed to sit down and finalise the wedding date as soon as Jai and Vaibhavi were back in Mumbai. It would have been mostly by this year’s end or early 2024.
Your Mom and Dad were in Australia, when the accident happened…
That’s right. Mom and Dad were on a holiday in Australia. They had gone to my aunt’s place, who stays there. They were supposed to return on June 16.
I didn’t know what to do when I got the call from the police. I didn’t know what to tell Mom and Dad. I just called up my aunt in Australia and told her about this. We decided not to tell them that the accident had been fatal. They were simply told that Vaibhavi had met with an accident and got injured. My aunt arranged their tickets in a jiffy. They quickly boarded a flight, the very first one that was available. It was only when they reached Mumbai and were headed home that we told them what exactly had happened.
How would you describe your sister, Vaibhavi?
Vaibhavi was a very lively person. There is nobody in this world who knew her and didn’t like her. She was a very good human being. We siblings – two sisters and I – shared a great bond.
My elder sister Jinal, Jai’s father and I managed to get the body to Mumbai after 2 days. There is a lot of paperwork if the state is different. Vaibhavi also was elder to me.
Was Vaibhavi working on any project?
She has three projects which have yet to be released. She had done a Gujarati film with Malhar Thakkar (actor-producer), another film ‘Facing Baroda’ for an OTT platform, the third film’s name I don’t remember.
