Martyred Colonel Ashutosh Sharma never looked for job, Army was his passion

JAIPUR: Thirteen attempts and six-and-a-half years later, Colonel Ashutosh Sharma realised his dream of becoming an army officer. The family said Sharma did not even try for any other profession and suffered hardships in joining the defence services. Sharma, who was martyred in Handwara during a counter terrorism operation, always wanted to join the army. According to his family, the martyr’s only regret was that he did not get to wear the maroon beret—a synonym for joining as paratrooper. His mortal remains were brought to Jaipur on Monday and the funeral is scheduled for Tuesday.
The martyr’s family vividly recalls his passion for joining the army, though it took a great deal of effort and the struggle was real to achieve what he had set out to do. The deceased soldier’s elder brother Piyush Sharma, visibly choking on his words told TOI, “Ashutosh always had one aim which was to join the army. It was an uphill task but he never gave up. He would clear the written examination but it was the Service Selection Board (SSB) interviews which he did not clear till he finally did in the 13th attempt.”
Piyush is just a year older than the Colonel.“Although we had a wonderful childhood, there was a time when our family was going through a major financial crisis. There was no money for Ashutosh to go for the SSB interviews but he travelled in sleeper class and slept next to the washrooms after spreading newspapers on the floor. He was so focused and hardworking. In fact, even I wanted to join the army but could not due to circumstances. He lived the dream for both of us,” he said. A source of motivation for the family, the martyr’s nephew has decided to continue the tradition and said that he would also join 19 Guards, which was his uncle’s parent unit.

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