Babaji Viveka - Roller Coaster RIde Back! (RIP)

 “I am going far away” 'Do you have any idea what I'm going through?'” "We come from dust and we go to dust," read the facebook status of the former Miss Mauritius, Viveka Babajee, who was found hanging from a ceiling fan of her living room in her suburban apartment at Bandra in Mumbai, on 25th June 2010.

This status on 11th June on the social networking site worried many of her friends but they never thought it to be an indication and feel that she could have been saved if they were around. The main cause of her in committing suicide was a brawl with her 32 year old boyfriend, a stock analysist, Gautam Vohra who disagreed to acknowledge their relationship in public on his birthday, instead of repeated plee by Viveka.
 
After the clarification given by Viveka’s mother that depression was not the reason of her suicide still media carried stories where they came up with the following lines : Former supermodel Viveka Babajee, who committed suicide in Mumbai on Friday, suffered from depression after an apparent split with her boyfriend, her friends in the fashion industry said on Saturday.
 
A section of the fashion fraternity maintains her suicide had nothing to do with her modeling career, but the personal mess she was in. Others disagree. The model succumbed after a tough fight amidst her career life and love life, on the 25th day of June. Before hanging herself, Viveka spoke to her mother in Mauritius, “I am going far away” is what she said over phone at the end of her conversation.
 
The other person she spoke to was Gautam Vohra her then boyfriend whom she was dating for couple of months from her death. She shattered the beautifully self decorated flat where she was staying alone. It is believed that after a telephonic conversation with her boyfriend, Viveka was in a tough mental condition and just to easy her frustration and anger, like other instances she relied on alcohol but this time it was an overdose which was evident from the autopsy reports from Cooper hospital .
 
The bottles and sleeping pills were found lying on the floor of the living room where she was found hanging to a ceiling fan, which indicates that she tried ways to end her life and the last resort was hanging her. Though no suicide note was found, several letters were found addressed to a Gautam. Babajee switched off her cellphone and disconnected the landline after making the calls, the police said. “It seems she had decided to end her life but took her own time over it, taking the final step only in the wee hours of the next day. She had alcohol and sleeping pills, she left the gas on and all windows shut. She finally decided to hang herself after writing a short note on the last page of her diary: ‘You killed me, Gautam Vora’,” Appointment of viveka on the day she died.
 
This evening at Fuel, Falguni and Sushil Jhaveri's fashion store at Chowpatty, Viveka Babaji would have been hosting a glamourous event over coffee and antipasto to launch jewellery accessories for a renowned brand. She had put together the high-profile guest list herself, excitedly calling friends from the fashion world like Viren Shah, Manish Goel, Lata Patel & Munisha Khatwani, all of whom are now strugg- ling to come to terms with her death. "She was a friend and I had confirmed my presence.
 
I was to fly down from Delhi Today," said Munisha. Falguni and Sushil have thoughtfully cancelled the event. "Last Saturday, Viveka was to decide the ambience & flow of the launch with us. Instead, we learned of her death in the morning papers," they said. Now they are call- ing up everyone to whom Viveka Babaji's invitation has already gone.
 
Born on May 23, 1973 model & actress Viveka Babajee’s sole motto was to achieve success wherever she steps into. She won the Miss Mauritius title in 1993 and represented Mauritius at Miss World in the same year and also at Miss Universe 1994 along with Sushmita Sen. Viveka’s first big hit was Kamasutra Condoms advertisement in the mid-nineties. She was the face of Kamasutra Condom with Indra Mohan Sudan and was the second face after Pooja Bedi to launch the condoms. She then was seen on big screen in 2002 ''Kitni Mohabat Hai,'' where she plays the role of  a rich wife, who was killed by her husband. This movie also starred Govinda's nephew Krishna and Deepak Tijori, and Sharad Kapoor. She even showed her dance moves in a Haryanvi music video and a main lead in Boom-Boom by Punjabi Singer Daler Mehandi, which was shot in Mauritius.
 
Babajee’s career as a choreographer started in year 2008 with doing shows for ''Matrix'' and Loreal, where she also did catwalk for them, she worked with Pria Kataria Puri as her first designer show, later she did shows for Neeta Lulla, Agni Jewellery, Surya Gols, John Players, & her last show was for designer Arjun Khanna which was done just few days before she passed away.
 
In January 2010 she decided to start her own event management business and indeed star- ted successfully with projects including Arjun K- hanna Show that happened at Taj Colaba.Her company was named " VIBGYOR ENT" which was an event management enterprise.
 
Viveka Babajee had also been an anchor for FTV (Fashion Television) India. Viveka was an animal lover..She had six cats. She loved them all very much. She was always on forefront for fighting for animal rights, she would make sure that animals were well kept and were taken good care of. When spoke to Babaji, early in 2010 about her life and career she shared, “I am based in India, Mumbai, for Eleven years in the fashion fraternity. From a full time Top model, I have achieved years of experience .A Career that has shown me the World & Different Cultures ,as well as broaden my Spectrum as reference to the Fashion industry & all its differ- ent aspects . I have been working simultaneou- sly for last three years as a Fashion Director. Now I am a Fashion Director and Director of my own event management company-Vibgyor Ent. Life can get really busy and statisfying without taking out one bit of the passion.
 
Creativity and Visualizations are the most valuable criteria, in any event VIBGYOR ENT associates with. I would give special thanks to my parents because What I am today would have not been possible without the Upbringing of my Family,My Country Mauritius and India ; Country of my Parents & Ancestors which forged my spirit.” Jatin Kumar was one of the first and closest fri- ends of Viveka Babajee. When Viveka first came from Mauritius to Mumbai, she stayed with Jatin Kumar’s family for a few years. She was like a daughter to Jatin’s parents. Jatin was in touch with Viveka, but since he got busy with his film production activities, his interactions with Viveka had lessened over time.
 
When he heard the news about her demise, he immediately rushed to help her family. He arranged for all the last minute rituals of Viveka and helped her family to keep away with the curious media. The model’s love life had been always not very sorted out. She was linked with director of movie James, Rohit Jugraj and her ex- partner in business, Kartik Jobenputra. According to her mother, apart from having a taste for fashion, Viveka enjoyed & loved music. She was courageous and a go-getter. She was an independent girl with leadership qualities, h- ad a helping nature & also supported her mot- her financially.
 
Whoever made friends with Viveka, she touched their hearts. She had a huge friend circle and was always cheerful and motivated. At 10pm on June 23, two days before the mishap, Viveka sent an sms to her mom which read: “Hi ma, have been shooting to day. Had a good day. Just reached home. Hope you ok, my little fairy. Love you.” After this message, her mother called her up and spoke to her.
 
According to her, Viveka was ‘not depressed’ at all. If one also reads Viveka’s last few posts on Facebook, it is easily reflected that she wasn’t ‘depressed’. In fact, her last posts on the social network- Roller Coster Ride Backwards, clearly convey her as a fighter and an inspiring person. Viveka Babajee’s Mauritius-based mother had made a desperate phone call to the model’s former boyfriend Rohit Jugraj to check on her hours before she hanged herself last week, police sources said. Disturbed by Babajee’s distress message saying she was going to ‘another world’, her mother asked him to help her.
 
Writer-director Jugraj, who was in a relationship with Babajee for two years until 2008, called Babajee but could not reach her. He then sent her a text message asking if everything was alright with her. Viveka, however, did not reply as she had, perhaps, switched off her cellphone by then, the police said. Viveka had discussed her boyfriend Gautam Vora with her mother several times.
 
She had also made Gautam speak to her mother once over the phone. According to her mother, Viveka found Gautam a kind and soft-spoken person. She had told her mother, he had proposed her. She even mentioned in her conversation with her mother that, Gautama had matched their kundalis and they were happy that all the points tallied, except one point about naadi (i.e. pulse).
 
All this shows that Viveka was ‘indeed’ going around with Gautam Vora and they had been seriously considering marriage.  Satish K Singh, Editor, Zee News, said, "Many cases are there in which media activism has brought results. If by reports by media, we are a-ble to bring out the truth and we have do- ne it in the past, then you should call it triumph by media and see its positive contribution rather than merely dubbing it as trial by media” Abhijit Mazumdar, Editor, Mid-Day, said, " There will always be some line of ethics that peopleshouldn't cross. But I feel on the whole media has under covered Viveka. It's a really riveting story to cover and link it to larger social issues especially in cities and tell people how to cope with loneliness and heartbreak.”
 
Viveka and her alleged boyfriend Gautam Vora became headlines on news channels and newspapers from the very next day unrelenting, probing and not for a moment, letting go. The media coverage has reopened the debate yet again: Media activism or just over the top news coverage? 
 
Viveka, pardon the brevity believe you to be the epitome of humility and sensitivity on a personal level and maturity and sophistication as a professional. God bless you Viveka! - Imam Siddique
 
Viveka Babajee may have stopped walking the ramp many years ago and some would say she was forgotten too, but ironically, it’s now when she's dead that the pictures and head-lines arent keeping her alive, but her Facebook id & Groups are. "Let's figure it out if it was something or someone" that/who killed BV" Last but not the least! - No one Killed Babaji!" - Gaurav Kapoor