Ruchi Sharma

Captain Ruchi Sharma is a former paratrooper in the Indian Army. She retired from the Army in 2003 and is now an educationist.

Life Ruchi Sharma was a 1995 batch science student of Mehr Chand Mahajan DAV College for Women. Both Sharma and her father, an Indian Army officer, are alumni of Officers’ Training Academy, Chennai. Sharma joined the army in 1996Efn|Only 4 years prior had Indian women been allowed in combat roles on an "experimental basis" as a Short Service Commission officer and was commissioned to the Army Ordnance Corps. She volunteered to become a paratrooper. In an interview to Femina magazine she remembers that during training they were made to jog for 40 km with a 10 kg load. Her first jump was in 1997. In 2020, on the occasion of International Women's Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s made a social media appeal to bring forward inspirational stories. One of the stories was highlighted was that of Captain Ruchi Sharma. In 2003 she left the forces so as to be able to look after her daughter. Ruchi Sharma, now an educationist, is married to an army officer, and they have a daughter.