Army soldiers who get martyred while on duty leave behind bereaved families to survive on their own. Wives of martyred soldiers have a tough time raising children as the sole bread-earner of the family. With a limited pension, they have to carefully manage their finances.

A 32-year-old woman from Virar in Mumbai- Gauri Mahadik will soon join the Indian Army as a tribute to her husband, Major Prasad Mahadik who was killed at his shelter at the Indo-China border in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh in December 2017.

Hindustan Times reported that Mahadik is all set to join the Army next year as Lieutenant once she completes her training at the Officers’ Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai. She told the publication that she will be commissioned as a Lieutenant in non-technical category for war-widows.

Photo: Major Prasad Mahadik and his wife Gauri/Facebook

Gauri sat for the Service Selection Board (SSB) last year and passed the examination with flying colours. She has qualified for training at the OTA. Following a thorough training of 49 weeks starting from April, Mahadik will be inducted into the Indian Army in March 2020.

SSB examination is used to assess candidates for becoming officers into the Indian Army. This exam was held for widows of the defence personnel and around 16 candidates qualified from three centres of Bangalore, Bhopal and Allahabad.

A standardized protocol of evaluation system which consists of personality, intelligence tests and interviews is used to select the candidates. “We were exempted from answering a written exam conducted by the Combined Defence Services (CDS) and directly appeared for the oral test at Bhopal.” she said.

Photo: Facebook

Perhaps, Gauri’s admission into the Indian Army was destined to happen as she got the same chest number (28) which her husband was allotted before his selection at the OTA. The couple got married in 2015 when Gauri was working as a lawyer. After Major Prasad lost his life, she left her job at a law firm in Worli to join the Indian Army.

“My joining the Indian Army would be the best tribute to my husband,” she had told HT last year. Major Mahadik had a dream of starting a military academy in their native village of Guhagar district in Maharashtra.

On December 30, his shelter caught fire and he got trapped due to which he passed away. He was posted along the border at a height of above 15,000 feet where the temperatures plummeted to minus 15 degrees.

Photo: Facebook/Major Prasad Mahadik in Gulmarg, Kashmir

Speaking to TOI, Gauri admitted that her life post her husband’s demise was very difficult. Nevertheless, she feels great pride upon continuing the military legacy. She had attempted to crack the SSB last year also but since her preparation wasn’t upto the mark, she couldn’t clear it in the first attempt.

Currently, she is focused on improving her physical fitness so that she can pay tribute to her husband in the best way possible.

Prasad was the finest officers posted in the 7th battalion of the Bihar Regiment and joined the Army after his training at the OTA in Chennai in March 2012.