For Deepti, love did not begin with a grand proposal or a perfect moment. It began when she and Jay were still in school. They had known each other since Class 7, but their friendship slowly grew deeper in 2012. A casual conversation, regular talks, and years of growing up together eventually turned them into best friends, partners, and, finally, husband and wife. On June 30, 2024, after years of standing by their relationship despite family opposition, they got married. Jay came to Deepti’s house alone as his own baraat. For her, that moment captured something she had already known for years: when life became difficult, Jay chose them. Neither of them knew how soon their marriage would be tested.
Then, one phone call changed everything
22 Jul 2026 | 13:00
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Around noon one day, Jay’s office in-charge arrived at their home and told Deepti that Jay had met with an accident. At first, she was told it was a small injury. But when she was asked to pack clothes for both of them, she realised that something was seriously wrong. She insisted on speaking to Jay before leaving. When she finally reached the hospital and saw him, his upper body was covered in medical treatment. She could not process what she was seeing and fainted. Jay had suffered around 40% severe burns, and doctors described his condition as life-threatening. After an almost seven-hour journey to Ahmedabad, he began treatment that would include four plastic surgeries, with around 22% of the affected area requiring skin grafting. For Deepti, the hospital became a place where fear and hope existed side by side.
She was scared, but Jay needed her to be strong
Jay was not only dealing with physical pain. He was traumatised and frightened. During the early days of treatment, he cried and asked Deepti to take him home. She could not take away his pain, but she could stay beside him. Before one of his surgeries, Jay held her hand and told her that he feared he would not return from the operation theatre. Deepti was terrified too, but she promised him she would be there when he came back. She waited outside the operation theatre for six hours.He eventually underwent four surgeries. But recovery did not end there. Deepti says the accident changed Jay emotionally as much as it changed him physically. The independent and confident man she knew now sometimes needs help with everyday things. He also struggles with people staring at his scars and with memories of the hospital.
While Jay fought inside, Deepti fought outside
Deepti’s battle was not limited to the hospital room. There were medical expenses, uncertainty about his recovery, conversations with officials, and the constant pressure of trying to arrange treatment. At one point, the financial situation became so overwhelming that she broke down, wondering whether she would be able to save him. She also had to hear painful comments from people around her. Some blamed her marriage for Jay’s accident. Others suggested that because she was young, she could leave him and find someone else. But she kept those words away from Jay because she knew he was already fighting enough. She would stay strong in front of him and cry alone.
‘I fell in love with Jay’s soul’
Perhaps the most powerful part of Deepti’s story is how she describes the man she still sees when she looks at Jay. Before the accident, she loved his kindness, his soft heart, and the way he found happiness in making other people happy. He would bring her flowers, remember small things she liked and, as she recalls, would happily spend his last ₹100 if it made her smile. The accident changed his skin and left scars on his body. But, Deepti says, it did not change the person she fell in love with. “I fell in love with Jay’s soul,” she says. For her, his appearance was never the foundation of their relationship. The person inside that body was.
‘I didn’t hold his hand for 14 years just to let go’
When people told Deepti she could leave because she was young, her answer was simple and devastating. “I have been with this man for 14 years. I didn’t hold his hand all those years just to let go of it when life became difficult.” She did not choose Jay only for his good days, so his worst days could never become a reason to leave. Today, Deepti wants Jay to understand that he is not a burden. She wants him to stop measuring his worth by his scars, his physical abilities, or what he can do for her. She wants him to see not only what the accident took away but also “the man who survived it.”
They are learning to live today
The accident changed the future they had planned, but it also changed the way they look at the present. Before, they often postponed happiness, telling themselves they would travel later, enjoy later, or start living fully once everything settled. Now, they know that tomorrow is never guaranteed. So they celebrate small progress. They laugh. They spend time together. They go out whenever they can. Their old life may not return exactly as they imagined it. But Deepti does not believe that means their life cannot still be beautiful. “We spent so much of our old life planning for tomorrow. Now, we are learning to live today.” For Deepti, love is no longer about the life she once imagined with Jay. It is about choosing him in the life they have now, scars, fear, recovery, uncertainty, and all. And through everything, one thing remains unchanged: she is still holding his hand.
