'This is the last time...': Teen’s haunting words to best friend before Air India crash break hearts
PTC Web Desk: A day before tragedy struck Air India Flight 171, 17-year-old Prachi Gajjar unknowingly spoke what would become her final words to her best friend — words now etched in memory and heartbreak. “This is the last time I am giving you something,” Prachi joked lovingly to Disha Thakkar, 18, as they shopped for a belated birthday gift. Neither could have imagined that those words would become a haunting premonition of a goodbye neither was prepared for.
Prachi and her father, Jayesh Gajjar, were delivering tiffins to her aunt and others at Atulyam hostel when the plane crashed into the building, claiming over 250 lives. Among them were Prachi and her father. Disha was supposed to be with them that day — but stayed back, feeling slightly unwell.
The two girls had been inseparable since Class 9 — dreaming of college together, sharing laughter and secrets. Just days before the tragedy, they sat on the terrace after coding lessons, where Prachi suddenly hugged Disha tight, her eyes welling up. “No matter what, I’ll always be with you. No one can separate us,” she said. They cried without knowing they were parting forever.
Hours before the crash, Prachi messaged from her father's phone: “Call me in the afternoon, I need to talk to you.” Disha replied too late. When she finally called, Prachi’s aunt answered — with the devastating news. Disha fainted.
“I keep thinking — what if I had gone with her? Would things be different?” she says through tears. For days after, she stayed at Prachi’s home, holding on to memories.
Even now, Disha hears her. A soft, familiar voice calling out: “Oye.”
- With inputs from agencies
