The arc lights of glamour, fame and success are believed to take its toll sooner or later. And the sad demise of supermodel Viveka Babaji proved to be yet another case in point. Viveka who was reportedly living a disturbed life during her last days has fuelled many a rumour surrounding her sudden death. While it may seem easy to blame an estranged boyfriend who had allegedly made her suicidal, one can’t help, but wonder whether or not her near and dear ones chose to turn a blind eye towards someone who clearly needed help.
Close friend ad man Prahlad Kakkad is quick to counter such views. “No one in particular can be blamed about the circumstances,” he says, adding, “A certain section of the media gleefully reports about the incident and comes up with false versions of the story. As for me, I don’t know much about their relationship. So I don’t think I’m in a position to even comment about it.”
Viveka’s other friends too seem to be following Prahlad’s example. Queenie, who knew Viveka well, says that her friend never spoke about her personal life. “You’ve got to look at a situation from two perspectives. One is where your intellect plays a dominant role in your thinking and you want to side with the truth. And the other is where you feel that what has been done is wrong and feel like taking sides,” she says. However, she too feels that at the current state of affairs no one can say for sure about what exactly happened.
What’s even more mysterious is that her friends fondly describe her as a bubbly and vivacious girl who hardly showed any signs of stress or anxiety. Celebrated designer Vikram Phadnis who had worked with her closely says, “She was a great friend and it is extremely shocking to know about her death. It’s highly confusing and difficult to comprehend what could have led her to take such a drastic step.” Like others, Vikram too never noticed anything depressing about Viveka. “I met her a month ago and she seemed totally fine.”
The world of glitz and glamour has always been tainted as a pretentious and selfish one. So is it a mere stereotype or are there elements of truth somewhere beneath the surface? Ask Aditi Govitrikar who was present at the memorial, and pat comes the reply, “Things like this can happen to anybody. One can’t blame the fashion industry in particular.” Echoing her sentiment Arzoo says, “Just because there are so many successful women here, it is unfair to say such things about the fashion industry.” Anchal Kumar, who considers Viveka as a colleague, vehemently denies the concoction of stories around the fashion world, refuting the “shallowness” attached to it.
Narendra Kumar Ahmed, who calls Gautam Vora an acquaintance describes the situation as a sad cocktail of love and Viveka was known to be a bubbly and vivacious girl and as per her friends she hardly showed any signs of stress or anxiety.
But Prahlad leaves us with some food for thought in his observation. “With relationships becoming so insecure these days and women becoming fragile by the power of money and fame, it is unfortunate to see them loose mental strength,” he says.