Shahdol (Madhya Pradesh): Late Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat were among the 13 casualties of the unfortunate chopper crash that occurred on Wednesday. Pandit Sunil Dwivedi, who presided over their marriage in 1985, talked to ETV Bharat in detail about Gen. Rawat's marriage, his family and life.
Pandit Sunil Dwivedi, who performed the marriage of Bipin Rawat and Madhulika Rawat, told ETV Bharat that at the time of marriage, Bipin Rawat was serving the army as a Captain, while his father Laxman Singh Rawat was a Lieutenant General. He remembers both the father and son as very generous men who treated everyone with utter respect.
"His posting was in Bathinda at that time. Madhulika's father Mrigendra Singh and his wife Jyoti Prabha, with children Harshvardhan and Yashvardhan Singh and all their relatives went to Bathinda for the Tilak programme," he said.
Dwivedi said that he got a chance to talk to Laxman Singh Rawat and Bipin Rawat during the Tilak programme in Bathinda. "He was a very kind person, and at the same time, a very hard working, capable and sharp-witted man. I had heard praises about the young man, but that day I witnessed all of it myself," he said.
He further said that after Bathinda, the ceremony moved to Delhi where the wedding was scheduled. "I remember, after getting Tilak in Bhatinda, they got married in Delhi. For the wedding, I, Mrigendra Singh and his family went to Delhi with their relatives. There, I got the two married at Asoka Road in Delhi," he said.
Pandit Sunil Dwivedi traced his relation back with Madhulika's father, whom he dearly called Raja Sahib. He said that he, and the generations before him, have served as the family priests to Madhulika's family and their family relations have roots back in time. He further said that his life was greatly influenced by Gen. Rawat - so much that his daughter joined the Indian army because of the inspiration she got from Gen. Rawat.
Shahdol, where Pandit Dwivedi lives, was the native place of Gen. Bipin Rawat's wife Madhulika."We are proud to have had him as the son-in-law of our town. He has brought glory to the nation with his valor and will always be remembered with high regards," he said.
Also read: Funeral of late CDS Bipin Rawat and wife to be held in Delhi Cantonment on Friday
