Suparna Roy
suparna.roy@htlive.com
Dehradun : Exactly one year after martyrdom of her army officer husband in Kashmir, 28-year-old Nitika Kaul Dhoundiyal, is all set to join the Indian Army. She says this will be her real tribute to her husband and her way of feeling close to him.
Kaul’s husband Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal, was martyred in an encounter in Pulwama last year with Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists after the Pulwama attack.
Kaul, 28, who originally hails from Kashmir, has cleared Short Service Commission examination, along with the interview. She is now waiting for the merit list to be declared after which she will join the forces as a cadet.
presently works with an it firm
Kaul, who lives in Delhi these days with her parents and works in a multi-national IT company, said she wants to focus on being a good officer like her husband.
“I want to learn new things as it is a major shift for me from corporate culture I am so used to, to the disciplined culture of armed forces”, she said.
“I took my own time to recover from the major loss, and the decision to sit for the Short Service Commission examination happened gradually. Just to fill the form in September last year was a big decision. But I had decided that I want to walk on a similar path like my husband,” said Kaul.
Remembering the day she sat for the examination, Kaul said, “It was a very emotional moment for me to enter that examination hall, given what I had experienced. At the same time, I was thinking that my husband would have gone through the same situation, of clearing the first examination as a step towards joining the forces….it made me feel closer to Vibhu…”
However, she said that it was not easy to get back to normal life after the death of her husband. “I drowned myself in work, hoping the pain will ease…”
“I went back to work around 15 days after my husband’s death, because I wanted to keep myself busy. It is natural to have a breakdown but we needed to accept the situation. I had to find positivity in my daily routine and stand up on my feet once again,” she added.
Sharing an anecdote from the first time she went out with her cousins, after her husband’s death, Kaul said, “There was an internal resistance, I was not completely willing to go outside, but then when a loved one leaves, you have to think whether they would have wanted to see you in such a sad state. I always thought what Vibhu would have wanted me to do and I got my answer…”