Madhya Pradesh: Tug of duty prompts Navy officer’s widow to join Army

MHOW: Professor, bride, Veer Nari and now an officer cadet, it’s been a whirlwind of emotions for 29-yearold Karuna Singh Chohan in the past 21 months.
Her husband, Lt Commander Dharmendra Singh Chohan, had died valiantly battling a fire on board aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya when it was about to touch harbour in Karwar (Karnataka) on April 26, 2019.They had been married for just 40 days.
Now, Karuna is all set to join Officers Training Academy in Chennai to live life in olive-green.
She was an associate professor at Dayalbagh University in Agra, but couldn’t resist the tug of the uniform, and decided to join the Army after her husband’s martyrdom. “When I received news of the mishap, it was very hard to believe that I had lost Dharmendra after just 40 days of marriage. I was in my in-laws’ house in Ratlam at that time. I think the almighty was testing me as I had lost five of my close ones in a very short span of time and I thought God has chosen me for some great task and responsibility,” Karuna said.
“Like every girl, I had dreams regarding my career and marriage. I became a professor and as a perfect life partner, I got Dharmendra. But my dreams were shattered in a second,” Karuna said.
For some time, she says, she felt “broken”, but the words of her mother-in-law Tina Kunwar Chohan and mother Krishna Singh rekindled her spirit.
Group Captain Irfan Khan, who heads the District Sainik Welfare Organisation in Ratlam, was the first person to motivate Karuna to join the Army.
Inspired, she went to Indore to a close family friend, Col Nikhil Diwanji, under whose guidance she prepared for the SSB interview.
“There is a provision in the armed forces that Veer Naris (widows of martyrs) need not appear for the written exam. They are called directly for the interview. I got my first interview call from SSB-Bhopal in September but I was screened out on the first day. I again appeared for an interview on October 27 and this time I was able to cross all hurdles to reach the personal interview round. It lasted 55 minutes, probably the longest of all candidates. It was because I was already nicely employed (as a professor) and why I opted for Army when my husband had been with the Navy. Everything went well and I succeeded,” Karuna said.
The mail regarding her success came on Diwali. She will join OTA on January 7 for 11 months of military training. Asked why she opted for Army, she said she wanted to serve across the country as an Army officer.