NEW DELHI: Once united by a vow to be together for seven lifetimes, they are reunited by the pledge to protect and stand for the country and its citizens. When Colonel Santosh Mahadik died fighting terrorists in Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir on November 17, 2015, his 32-year-old widow had pledged at her husband’s funeral that all she wanted was to take forward her husband’s work by joining the Army. Eight months later, the wife of the deceased Commanding Officer (CO) of 41 Rashitriya Rifles finally fulfilled her vows.
Colonel Mahadik, son of a milkman in Maharashtra, died in an ambush by the militants after being shot through the head and stomach. He was posthumously awarded the Shaurya Chakra, the second-highest peacetime gallantry award given to the armed forces, at this year’s Republic Day.
It is only a matter of nine months that Swati Mahadik will be donning the olive green uniform, which was once her husband’s pride, who was in the 21 Para Special Forces. The gritty wife of the martyr has cleared the tough Service Selection Board test and is on her way for training at Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai.
For the mother of two, the journey that she has embarked on was not easy. Swati placed her son and daughter in boarding schools in Panchgani and Dehradun so that she could be at the training academy. Even to reach her goal, she had to compete with candidates 10 years younger to her.
A graduate from the University of Pune, she was given special age exemption by Minister of Defence Manohar Parrikar on the recommendation of Chief of Army Staff General Dalbir Singh. “Her determination and commitment must have impressed the board of officers who interviewed her,” said an Army officer.
There is no love like the love for one’s country, and Swati is not the only martyr’s widow to join the Army. In 2014, the widow of Naik Amit Sharma of 14 Rajput Regiment, who was killed in a counter-insurgency operation near Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh in 2012, had joined the force after passing out from OTA Chennai.
