Jyoti Deepak Nainwal’s husband Naik Deepak Kumar was martyred in Jammu and Kashmir while fighting terrorists in 2018. It was her mother’s inspiring words that motivated her to rise from being a humble homemaker to becoming an Army officer. She passed out of the Officers’ Training Academy in Chennai on Saturday to become a Lieutenant of the Indian Army. She was cheered on by her two children during the passing out parade.

The Dehradun-based homemaker’s life revolved around her husband and children, 9-year old daughter Lavanya and 7-year old son Reyansh. When her husband died, her life just tumbled over. While society expected her only to bring up her children, her mother wanted her to lead from the front and set an example for her kids to scale greater heights.

Quoting her mother, Nainiwal said, “Beta (child), take this situation as an opportunity. Don’t raise them by giving other’s examples, but set yourself as an example in front of them and make them feel proud. Teach them to sail through the ups and downs of life,” PTI reported. 

Thanks to her mother’s words and the support of her brother, Nainwal decided to join the Army. It was not an easy task as she had to face several challenges.

“Brigadier Cheema and Col M P Singh took the responsibility to be my mentors. They both played a huge role in getting me prepared for the Service Selection Board. My English was not that good as all my life I was only involved in household responsibilities,” she said.

Nainwal eventually made it through. She was among the 29 women cadets of the SSC (W)-26 to get commissioned on November 20 at the Officers Training Academy (OTA).