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Friends and family are mourning Bhishma Rajyaguru, who died Saturday evening 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 Rajyaguru were pronounced dead at the scene.
Friend Dakshesh Raval said Rajyaguru, 22, was driving back to Regina from Saskatoon when the crash happened on Highway 11 near Lumsden, Sask.
Raval said he knew something was wrong when Rajyaguru didn’t pick up his phone calls.
“If you’re calling him, he will not even let the phone ring twice,” he said, adding Rajyaguru was often the first person he would call in a crisis.
“I started calling him, and he didn’t pick it up once, twice. And on the third phone, I was already crying,” Raval said.
“I was like, please, God, please. It shouldn’t be true.”
Raval met Rajyaguru through a community cricket game almost four years ago.
Rajyaguru came to Regina from India as a student in April 2022, he said.
After discovering their shared love of folk music from the Indian state of Gujarat, Raval said the two formed the Regina Music Group along with four other musicians.
“He was doing it not for money. It was just his passion, his interest in music,” he said.
“He was a fantastic percussionist, and he played the octapad.”
Raval said he’ll miss playing music with Rajyaguru, who he said was more like a brother to him.
“My stage will be empty forever on that side,” he said.
“I cannot describe in words what I’ve lost, what his family has lost and what his parents are feeling.”
Raval said Rajyaguru had been looking forward to playing at Garba in the Park, an event put on by the Gujarati Samaj of Saskatchewan to celebrate folk dance and music.
The event, which was scheduled for July 25, has been postponed out of respect for Rajyaguru and his friends and family.
Raval and Viraj Mistry, another member of Regina Music Group, started a GoFundMe to help raise money to send Rajyaguru’s remains to his parents in India. As Monday, the fundraiser reached over $77,000, surpassing its goal of $50,000.
Mistry said he remembers Rajyaguru’s passion and dedication to his family.
“We all have aspirations, and we all have that one motive that we become successful and make it big in another country and build our own empire,” he said.
“Bhishma had that same aspiration, and he had that same spark in his eyes to make it big, to do well and to prove to his family and everyone that loves him that he can achieve and make it big.”
With their efforts focused on getting Rajyaguru’s remains home, Mistry said the other band members haven’t had much time to grieve.
“We are so busy making Bishma reach to his family. And obviously, there are ups and downs right now,” he said.
“We cry at the moment. We laugh. We have so many memories.”
