The stars on Lt Nitika Kaul`s shoulders were pipped by the chief of Indian Army`s Northern Command, over two years after she lost her officer husband.
A little over two years ago, Nitika Kaul blew a painful farewell kiss at her `simple and sweet` love story. Standing besides a Tricolour-covered coffin in Dehradun one February day in 2019, she kept asking mourners to stay strong rather. Inside it lay her husband Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal. Today, over 25 months later, Lt Gen Y K Joshi, chief of the Indian Army`s Northern Command, pipped the stars on Lieutenant Nitika Kaul`s uniform as she passed out of the Officer`s Training Academy, Chennai.
Lt Kaul was among the 31 Short Service Commission woman cadets who got passed out today from the institution.
The brass band played Cliff Richards`s Congratulations and Celebrations at haloed Parmeshwaran Drill Square as she stood rock like, answering some queries from Lt Gen Joshi and receiving his heartfelt compliment: "...I`m really proud of you."
@Nitikakaul joins #IndianArmy, paying a befitting tribute to his martyr husband #MajVibhutiShankarDhoundiyal, who made the Supreme Sacrifice at #Pulwama in 2019. @adgpi #OTAChennai pic.twitter.com/2vSYdBn16h
— Rajeev Ranjan (@Rajeevranjantv) May 29, 2021
Pulwama martyr Major Dhoundiyal`s wife Nikita Kaul joins Indian Army | JAI HIND @adgpi #JaiHind pic.twitter.com/LBEfZX1CmQ
— Bipin Kumar (@BipinKumarMah20) May 29, 2021
Major Dhoundiyal was one among the four soldiers - Sepoy Hari Singh, 27, Havaldar Sheo Ram, 37, and Sepoy Ajay Kumar, 27, who died in an 18-hour gunbattle in Pulwama, Kashmir on February 20, 2019. That operation had led to the elimination of, among others, a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist, the suspected key conspirator in the terror attack in the same district a week earlier that led to the killing of around 40 CRPF personnel.
The Major was supposed to visit home in April that year for the couple`s first wedding anniversary.
Remembering her husband, she said, "It`s like a parallel world. The day I stepped in, I felt that I am taking the same journey that he took. He is somewhere around here. Looking at me, holding me and saying, `you just did it. I just love you Vibhu, I`ll always love you."
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