Born on September 17, 1978, Disha Vakani, who rose to fame as Dayaben from Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, hails from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. She grew up in the city of lights and completed her schooling as well as graduation there. (All photos/Disha Vakani's Instagram page)

Disha Vakani's father Bhim Vakani is an acclaimed theatre artist. Following her father's footsteps, Disha pursued an education in Dramatic Arts. Interestingly, Bhim Vakani too plays a brief role in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah. He plays Champaklal Jayantilal Gada's friend in the show.

Disha Vakani was introduced to theatre at a very young age by her father Bhim Vakani, himself. Did you know, Disha's career in acting kick-started as a child theatre-artiste with her father?

A young Disha Vakani with her teacher Avinash Joshi. "A good teacher is like a candle, it consumes itself to light the way for others. He is my teacher. Everything I am today is because of him. Mr Avinash Joshi, you are an inspiration to me. You had always shown me the correct path! You have always supported and encouraged me in ups and downs of my life.. thanks for being a true and lovely teacher. It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge. And you did it always. Thanks for being a true mentor of our hearts. Happy Teachers Day to you and all the teachers in the world!," Disha captioned this epic throwback picture on Instagram.

Acting is in their blood, as not just Disha but her brother Mayur Vakani too is an actor. The brother-sister duo played reel-life siblings in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah for more than a decade.

Disha Vakani was 19 when she made her debut in the Hindi film Kamsin: The Untouched. It was a B-grade thriller, co-starring Shiva Rindani and Prithvi and did not give much recognition as an actress to Disha.

Undeterred by the failure, Disha Vakani went on to feature in films such as Mithun Chakravarty-starrer Phool Aur Aag, Gujarati films - Pandadu Lilu Ne Rang Rato, Paiso Maro Parmeshwar, to name a few. Meanwhile, she continued her theatre work and has been part of popular plays such as Kamal Patel v/s Dhamal Patel, Baa Retire Thai Che and Lali Lila.

In supporting roles, Disha Vakani has been part of various big Bollywood films namely - Devdas (2002), where she played one of the Sakhi, Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005), where she played the character named Yasmin, Jodhaa Akbar (2008), where she played Aishwarya Rai's friend - Madhavi, Love Story 2050 (2008), where she played the role of a maid.

Disha Vakani rose to fame with Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah as Daya Jethalal Gada, also fondly known as Dayaben, a simple loving housewife known for her funny antics. But, this was not her first tryst with comedy.

Disha Vakani had brief roles in the popular sitcoms - Khichdi (2004) and Instant Khichdi (2005).

Another interesting fact about Disha Vakani is while her on-screen character Dayaben is shown to be someone who trusts people easily and is very friendly, the actress in real-life is exactly the opposite. She is reserved and takes her time to be friendly with people.

In 2015, Disha Vakani had an arranged marriage. She tied the knot with chartered accountant Mayur Padia in Mumbai. The actress announced her pregnancy in 2017. Disha and Mayur were blessed with a baby girl on November 27, 2017, whom they name Stuti Padia.

Following the news of her pregnancy, fans of Disha Vakani were disheartened to learn of the actor's departure from the family-drama. Quick to sense audience sentiment, the makers, who were initially contemplating on roping in a replacement, instead decided to offer Vakani an extended leave.

Disha Vaknani entertained fans as Dayaben from 2008 to 2017. The actress, who became the household name, left the audience in awe with her brilliant acting chops, gaining a massive fan following. However, she took maternity leave in September 2017, and ever since then, Disha hasn't returned.

While Disha's presence in the show is heavily missed by Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah fans, only time will tell whether she will be back or not.