Nikita Kaul Dhoundiyal, the wife of a Pulwama martyr paid a befitting tribute to her husband as she joined the Indian Army to serve the nation on May 29.
A proud moment for her when she donned the Army uniform for the first time. Commander of the Army’s Northern Command Lt. Gen Y.K. Joshi piped stars on her shoulders at a ceremony held at the Officers Training Academy in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. With this, Nikita Kaul is now ‘Lt. Nikita Kaul’.
Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal was martyred during a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama in 2018. He was awarded Shaurya Chakra posthumously for his sacrifice for the nation.
Major Dhoundiyal was married for just 9 months before his sad demise and left his wife Nikita Kaul Dhoundiyal to face his loss.
But, Major Dhoundiyal’s sacrifice didn’t go in vain and his wife didn’t sit around moping her husband’s loss. She made the inspiring decision to join the Indian Army and make her husband proud.
Just six months after her husband’s martyrdom, Nikita filled the Short Service Commission (SSC) form. She cleared the exam and the Services Selection Board (SSB) interview as well.
She soon got commissioned at Officers Training Academy (OTA) at Chennai for her training and officially joined the Indian Army as Lieutenant Nikita Kaul Dhoundiyal.
Nikita Kaul while explaining her decision to join the Indian Army 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 filling 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.”
She further added, “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.”
In an emotional statement, Nikita had said that joining the Indian Army was her way of paying tribute to her husband Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal, and ‘feeling close’ to him.
Bidding the soldier farewell, Nikita had said, “You said you loved me, but the fact is you loved the nation more. I am really proud. We all love you. The way you love everyone is entirely different because you sacrificed your life for the people who you may have never met, but still you decided to give your life for them. You are such a brave man. I am very honoured to have you as my husband. I’ll love you till my last breath. I owe my life to you.”
While recalling her journey, Lt. Nitika Kaul said, “I feel that I’m traveling the same journey that he did. I believe he’s always going to be part of my life, even today he’s somewhere around looking at me and I can feel that he’s just holding me and saying you just did it. I Love you Vibhu.”
“Everyone please have faith in yourself, there’s absolutely nothing that can stop you from achieving what you have aimed for” is her message for all the women out there.