Martyred soldier's wife joins Indian Army
Swati Mahadik, Nidhi Dubey
From a teacher to a warrior, from the widow of Colonel Santosh Mahadik, she is now Lieutenant Swati Santosh Mahadik less than two years after her husband was martyred
By Revathi Rajeevan
From a teacher to a warrior, from the widow of Colonel Santosh Mahadik, she is now Lieutenant Swati Santosh Mahadik less than two years after her husband was martyred.
It was an emotional decision for Swati. "Sudden fall in combat and there was no uniform in the house. The person I loved the most had gone. I used to tell him 'I am your second love. Your first love is Indian army, your uniform'. I thought let me try and love his first love," says Swati with her eyes glowing with pride.
With Swati, Santosh left behind their two children - a daughter now aged twelve and a son aged seven. Colonel Santosh Mahadik was the Commanding Officer of 41 Rashtriya Rifles. He was leading his troops in the encounter against terrorists in Kashmir when he died after being shot on November 18, 2015. Swati does not want to recall any of these devastating moments of her life.
“I lived with him for more than twelve years. I can think like him now. I know what exactly he would do in each situation,” says Swati as she receives her posting order as an officer in Pune. She is one of the 322 cadets who passed out of the Officers'Training Academy in Chennai today. Her induction as an officer comes a day after the army finalised a plan to induct women in the military police which is seen as a move that could break gender barriers in the force.
"It is all in our minds. A bullet does not distinguish or discriminate between a male and a female soldier. You should do what you want to do irrespective of the gender,” adds 38-year-old Swati who trained rigorously for a year along with cadets half her age.
Breaking gender barriers in today’s passing out parade were 30 other female cadets including Nidhi Dubey, widow of Naik Mukesh Kumar Dubey whom she lost to a cardiac arrest while in service. Nidhi was then pregnant with her now seven-year-old son. "It is for my son that I have chosen to get into his shoes. It is a huge responsibility but I want to learn everything that I can. That is my goal," says Nidhi.
“Women should be allowed in combat roles too. We do everything that men do, all activities. Nothing is impossible is I have learnt in this one year,” she adds.