Nitika Kaul, widow of late Major Vibhuti Dhoundiyal, has got a letter from OTA, Chennai. She currently works w... Read More

DEHRADUN: Nitika Kaul, widow of Major Vibhuti Dhoundiyal , who was killed in a military operation after the Pulwama terror attack, is all set to join the technical wing of the Indian Army .

Kaul, 26, currently working with a software company in Noida, has cleared the Army’s entrance exam ( Services Selection Board ) and also received a call letter from the Officers Training Academy , Chennai, her family members told TOI on Tuesday. Since her husband was killed in action, she was given a relaxation in age limit to appear in the recruitment test.

A video of Nitika bidding a tearful adieu to her husband was widely circulated on social media last year in which she was seen giving a message to her husband before he was laid to rest — “You said you loved me, but the fact is you loved the nation more… I’ll love you till my last breath. I owe my life to you.” Almost a year after Major Dhoundiyal was killed, Kaul is set to serve in the Army.

Hope I get opportunity to serve India the way my husband did: Nitika

Saroj Dhoundiyal, Kaul’s mother-in-law, told TOI that she is very happy for her daughter-in-law. “She is a brave girl and takes care of us like a daughter. We are glad to have her in our lives,” she said, adding that she was the first to get the news of Kaul getting the offer letter. “It feels great that she put me above her own parents and called me first,” she said.

Talking to TOI on the first death anniversary of her husband on February 18, Kaul had said, “I couldn’t resist myself to love what my husband loved the most. I hope even I will get an opportunity to serve the country the way he did.” Nitika and Vibhuti had met while in college and had got married in April 2018. A few months before their first wedding anniversary, Major Dhoundiyal was killed while taking part in an operation in J&K to flush out militants after the Pulwama attack.

Kaul, a Kashmiri Pandit who moved to Delhi in the 1990s, said that her mother-in-law motivated her to join the Army. “Every time I see her, I see a hero. Her grief is no less, still she supported me throughout,” said Kaul, who has an MBA in marketing operations.

