Slain army major’s wife likely to join force

Dehradun: Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal’s widow, Nitika Kaul, 28, is all set to follow in his footsteps and join the army a year after he died in an exchange

Dehradun: Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal’s widow, Nitika Kaul, 28, is all set to follow in his footsteps and join the army a year after he died in an exchange of fire with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

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Kaul, who is from Jammu and Kashmir, cleared the Short Service Commission (SSC) examination for joining the army and a subsequent interview in November. She is now waiting for the final SSC merit list and will join the army as a cadet.

Major Dhoundiyal, 34, was killed in an anti-insurgency operation on February 18 last year days after a car bomb attack in Pulwama killed 40 paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force personnel and prompted India to launch an airstrike on a terror camp in Pakistan. The strike brought the two countries on the brink of war.

Kaul said joining the army will be her real tribute to her husband and her way of feeling closer to him. “I want to learn new things as it will be a major shift for me from the corporate culture, I am so used to, to the disciplined culture of the armed forces,” said Kaul, who now lives in Delhi with her parents and works in a multinational Information Technology company. She added she wants to focus on being a good officer like her husband.

Kaul said she took her time to recover from the loss. “The decision to sit for the SSC examination happened gradually. Just to fill the form in September [for SSC] last year was a big decision. But I had decided that I want to walk on a similar path like my husband,” said Kaul.

Kaul said she was very emotional when she took the examination given what she 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…”

Kaul said it was not easy for her to get back to the normal life after her husband’s death. “I drowned myself in work, hoping the pain will ease…,” she said. “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.”

Kaul said when she went out with her cousins for the first time after her husband’s death, there was an internal resistance. “I was not completely willing to go out. But then when loved ones leave, you have to think whether they would have wanted to see you in a miserable state. I always thought what Vibhu would have wanted me to do and I got my answer…”