For Ruchi Verma, joining the Army wasn’t an easy decision to make as she had a three-year-old son when her husband Major Vineet Verma was killed in an ambush in the northeast in April 2010.
Having made up her mind with an inspiration at heart, Ms. Verma walked into the corridors of the Officers’ Training Academy (OTA) last year, determined to follow in her husband’s footsteps into the Army.
“I decided to take up all his responsibilities — personal as well as professional. Wherever he is, he must be happy, proud and his blessings will always be with me,” said Lieutenant Verma, as her emotional parents Sudhir and Pramila Saxena stood still, moved by her words.
Looking curiously at his brave mother was Akshat, who was with his grandparents all these months, as the woman officer was away undergoing training at the Academy.
It was not the profession or its benefits that motivated Lieutenant Verma into the Army. “My siblings are well settled and my brother is in the U.S. But, I wanted to be in the Army where my husband served,” the 33-year old officer said.
In another noticeable feat among the newly commissioned officers, Lieutenant M. Anjana became only the second lady officer in the Army to have won the prestigious ‘Sword of Honour’ for being the all-round best cadet faring well than all her 185 batch-mates including 140 men at the OTA.
In another unique case of legacy, the family of Lieutenant Arjun Singh Chauhan has the tradition of serving in the Defence forces for several generations.
A total of 185 candidates, including six officers from foreign countries, completed their training at the OTA on Saturday.
Ruchi Verma’s husband Major Vineet Verma was killed in an ambush in the northeast in April 2010
