For 26-year-old Vinaya and her parents, it’s a proud moment as she cracked Service Selection Board Examination (SSB) with flying colours. She is now all set to undergo the strenuous 11-month training at the Air Force Academy in Hyderabad.

Image Credit: dna

A journalist by profession, what inspired her to change her profession was her husband’s accident. Life changed for Vinaya, when her husband, Flight lieutenant Shashikant Damgude lost his life in a road accident. It was then, she decided that she would follow her husband’s footsteps and decided to become a pilot.

While juggling her job at a leading newspaper daily in Mumbai, she also started preparing for the tough SSB exams. Along with her parents, her mother-in-law is beaming with pride for her daughter-in-law.

A similar case is of Swati, the widow of Col. Santosh Mahadik who died while fighting the militants in Kupwara, Kashmir. She, like Vinaya too decided to serve the army like her brave husband. These are indeed stories of sheer courage and determination of how these army widows choose to continuing their late husbands’ legacies. More power to them!