“Happy birthday, Papa.”
Those were Bhishma Rajyaguru’s last words to his dad, Ashish Rajyaguru.
It was a 15-second call from more than 11,000 kilometres away. Ashish wishes he could make the call longer and the distance shorter.
“We were calling him in the morning, but he didn’t pick up,” Ashish said.
“Why I didn’t talk to him [longer]? What is he doing? Where is he going? I just wanted to know.”
Bhishma, 22, died on July 18 after Saskatchewan Roughrider Jayden Dalke crashed into his vehicle. The CFL player was driving the wrong way on a divided highway, with cannabis and alcohol in his SUV, according to RCMP.
Both Dalke and Bhishma were pronounced dead at the scene.
“We couldn’t believe it. We lost everything,” Ashish said. “We were just mourning and crying. We were just crying and crying.”
Friends, family mourn 22-year-old killed in wrong-way crash near Lumsden, Sask.
Sask. Roughrider in fatal crash was driving on wrong side of divided highway: RCMP
Bhishma came to Canada as a student in April 2022. He had not been home since. Ashish remembers the airport goodbye: waving through a window pane, trying to hide his worried frown under an assuring smile and hoping to see Bhishma again soon.
“I told him to focus totally on education and make a bright career over there,” Ashish said. “His dreams were very powerful and he was very aspirational.”
Ashish’s morning walks are quieter now. He misses Bhishma’s chatter. Ashish remembers his son saying on one of those walks that he wanted to become famous enough for Google to feature a personalized snippet whenever people looked him up.
“Bhishma’s name shows up on Google now, but he’s no more,” Ashish said in Gujarati.
Bhishma died a month away from Rakshabandhan, an Indian festival celebrating the relationship between brothers and sisters. As part of the Indian custom and festivities, a sister ties a colourful thread to her brother’s wrist as a symbol of mutual love and respect.
For the last four years Bhishma’s sister, 19-year-old Hir Rajyaguru, had been pretend-tying the bracelet over video calls. Hir said Bhishma promised her during last year’s exchange that he would be physically present for this year’s celebrations.
At this year’s festival, Hir tied the bracelet to Bhishma’s lifeless wrist as he lay in a casket.
“It will be the hardest day of every year for me,” she said.
“He always used to make me laugh and always used to make fun of me in an annoying way. But secretly, I loved it, because he was my brother and that is what I loved about him.”
Bhishma Rajyaguru’s sister speaks about the pain of losing her brother
When RCMP called to notify the family of Bhishma’s death, Hir answered the phone.
“I couldn’t believe anything. I told my father that I think that this is a fraud call, you should not talk to him.”
It took more than two weeks for Bhishma’s body to reach India after autopsies and tests. In the meantime, the family could only access him through photos and videos.
“[Even] after seeing the photos [of Bhishma’s body], we used to believe that he might be sleeping. He will wake up. He will wake up,” Hir said.
Bhishma’s friends remember him as a talented musician and a 3 a.m. friend — somebody they could always count on.
Bhishma was a percussionist in a Regina-based band. His band members say he had been looking forward to playing at Garba in the Park, an event celebrating folk dance and music. The event, scheduled for July 25, was postponed out of respect for Bhishma and his friends and family.
Even though Bhishma’s instrument has gone silent, Hir continues to hum what her brother would play. She says Bhishma’s legacy will live on in the tunes he left behind and the smiles he inspired.
“He always wanted everyone to laugh in the hardest time. Everyone should keep smiling,” Hir said.
“Anytime my parents are grieving about him, or they cry, I always tell them that if my brother was here, he would have never liked to see you guys cry this much.”
