The wife of Major Prasad Mahadik, who was killed in a fire at his camp in Arunachal Pradesh, will follow into the footsteps of her late husband and join the Indian Army next year after completion of training.

Gauri Mahadik (32), all set to join the Officers' Training Academy (OTA) at Chennai, said instead of just mourning her husband's death, she wanted to pay a befitting tribute to him by wearing his stars and uniform.

Major Mahadik, who had joined the Army in 2012 and commissioned in the 7th Battalion of Bihar Regiment, died in the fire at his camp in Tawang near the Indo-China border in in December 2017.

Post-completion of 49-week training at the OTA, Gauri Mahadik, a qualified company secretary and law graduate who recently topped the Service Selection Board (SSB) exam in the widow category, will be inducted into the Army as a Lieutenant by March 2020.

"After my husband's death, I was thinking what to do next...I thought I can not just sit and cry. So I decided that I should do something for him and make him proud.

"I decided to follow his footsteps and with a determination that I will wear his stars and uniform, started preparing for SSB examination," said Mahadik while talking to PTI from Virar, a distant suburb of Mumbai, over the phone.

She said she could not succeed in the first attempt due to lack of preparation for the tough examination.

"But in the next attempt, I prepared hard and decided that this time I not would only clear the exam, but will top it and now I am cleared the exam," she said, adding while preparing she gave a lot of attention to physical fitness.

She said now she will be going to the OTA in Chennai for training.

"My 49-week training will start from April this year and after that I will become Lieutenant Gauri Prasad Mahadik. I think this would be the real tribute to my husband who is my real inspiration and hero also," she said.

Gauri Mahadik said her parents and in-laws supported her throughout the journey post her husband's death.

Gauri Mahadik married the Army officer in 2015 and after he sacrificed his life in the line of duty, she left her job at a law firm in Worli, Mumbai, and started preparations for the SSB exam.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)