Suhail Bhat
Mumbai, Oct 26: Born between the peaceful ridges of Jammu, where mountain streams cut silver paths to the plains, Bhisham Sharma spent his childhood with eyes in the skies.
The roar of Army Cheetah and Chetak helicopters resonating through the valleys stirred something within. “Those helicopters beckoned me to service,” he remembers, the instant when fascination had become purpose.
Three decades later, that boy from the hills commands fleets that guard India’s vast western coastline. As Commander of the Indian Coast Guard’s Western Region, Sharma’s world now stretches from Maharashtra to Kerala and across the Arabian Sea, where waves rise taller than houses and the horizon never ends.
“The mountains taught me resilience; the sea taught me adaptability,” he says, seated in his Mumbai office overlooking the calm, deceptive waters of the Arabian Sea. “Both demand respect and test your mettle.”
His journey to the sea began with a chance encounter. A senior officer from Jammu, already serving in the Indian Coast Guard, introduced him to a maritime force that was then little known in the region. “It was a complete paradigm shift,” he says. “From a landlocked state to a life on the ocean—it changed everything I knew about service.”
Sharma joined the Indian Coast Guard in 1990 after graduating from the Indian Naval Academy, where he was adjudged Best Trainee Assistant Commandant. By 1995, he had earned his flying wings at the Indian Naval Helicopter Training School, beginning an aviation career that would take him across India’s coastline.
Over 2,500 hours of flying later, the senior-most aviator in the ICG recalls lessons from the cockpit that continue to guide him. “Flying teaches you awareness, planning, teamwork, and calm under pressure,” he says. “Those lessons define leadership too.”
He has led numerous search and rescue missions, including a daring 2001 operation that saved six people adrift in the Andaman Sea.
Now leading one of the Coast Guard’s largest regional commands, Sharma oversees operations along an almost 2,000-kilometer coastline. His tenure has seen rapid modernization, with new pollution control and fast patrol vessels joining the fleet and expanded infrastructure in Lakshadweep and along the western seaboard. “Our goal is to ensure we are not just present, but prepared—always,” he says.
Outside his uniform, Sharma finds calm on his bicycle. “Cycling clears the head,” he laughs. “Plus, it’s the only time no one salutes you.” He credits his wife, Anju, for being the “real commander” of the family and a steady anchor through years of service. “No officer can sustain a 35-year career without family support,” he says. “They are the strength behind the uniform.”
To the youth of Jammu and Kashmir, he sends a message of encouragement. “You have the discipline and resilience that our nation needs,” he says. “The Coast Guard offers more than a job. It offers purpose. The sea awaits you. The nation needs you.”
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