What is success in life? Is it in building up of several major business enterprises and industries from scratch and providing livelihood to many families or place oneself in the service of others by making all out efforts to enhance the state’s image?
Late Phani Sharma can be said to have scored on both the counts. It was on the threshold of 1950. Phani Sharma arrived in Guwahati from his native village of Machkhowa in North Lakhimpur cherishing the dream of a place under the sun with a steely resolve as his only capital. At the Don Bosco College hostel during his student days– he was fascinated by the game of Table Tennis and started practicing assiduously. Soon he became a famous player and by dint of his new-found recognition made rapid inroads into the C & F and transport business. Having established himself– he thereafter built and operated a chain of cinema halls and was one of the few Assamese first generation entrepreneurs of his time who did not retreat in the face of intense competition. His leadership of EIMPA earned for him respect in the movie circles. He was the captain of our Assam Table Tennis team which took part in the National & Inter state Championships in Colombo in 1957-58. Despite being very young and virtually untrained -we could put up a fair show.
The living sports legend Pulin Das was our manager. After our playing days were over-Phani Sharma took over as the Hony. Secretary of A.T.T.A. we formed a small well-knit group with the task of training and equipping our youngsters so that they can try and win the laurels that eluded us as players. Sustained efforts brought results and in 1973-74 Assam won a National Team Trophy in TT for the first time ever at Chennai when our Girl’s team annexed the Padmavathi Trophy. Soon Assam became a Table Tennis powerhouse with new players like Monalisa Barua Mehta, Madalasha Hazarika, Nandini Barua, Meena Bora, Arunjyoti Barua, Rahul Dutta, Curfew Roy and a host of others occupying the National Centre stage. Meanwhile Phani Sharma became the TTFI Secy. as well as Treasurer.
Soon he branched into other sports and was in the helm of affairs in AFA, AOA etc. He was also the vice president of IOA and was the Dy. Chief-de-Mission of the Indian Olympic contingent to the Seoul Olympics. His crowning glory however came through Table Tennis Championships held in Calcutta in 1974. Participated by over 100 countries – he had to untangle pressing and critical financial issues involving many foreign delegations as well as look after the overall financial management of the championships. Perhaps no other Assamese till now has ever been entrusted with such a high profile responsibility in a full-fledged World spots event. He was a great admirer of the legendary R. G. Baruah and his pioneering attempts to perpetuate his memory through the R. G. Baruah Smriti Raksha Samiti was widely appreciated. In his search for a suitable position to achieve greater reach – he entered the political arena.
However, he found the uneven tracks of public life strewn with thorns. In the hustle bustle of public life – the dividing line between being showered with accolades and put on a pedestal and being run-down and derided – often gets blurred. It was also the time of parting of ways for his erstwhile colleagues and well-wishers like us who had to distance ourselves. It appeared from the sidelines that despite being on astute person he was naive at times and was used by others to advance their own agenda.
No important assignment commensurate with his talents and capabilities came his way. As the Chief Administrator of GMC he could have perhaps helped to change the face of Guwahati to some extent – butt it came at least a decade late. As the curtain came down on his eventful life on the morning of 25th June, 2007, one was left with a lurking feeling that the proven abilities of multi-faceted Phani Sharma remained unfulfilled to a great extent. May God grant his soul eternal peace !
Dwarik Sharma, Guwahati.
It surely is not an easy task to scribe about someone who belonged to a different generation. But it is much easier to connect with someone whose spirit transcends generations. We had one thing in common- our birthplace. It was in a sleepy village, Machkhowa in the Dhemaji district in the North East of Assam, Sri Phani Sharma was born.
Besides the condolence messages posted here, a number of individuals and sports, political, social, cultural, health organisations including a few educational institutions have sent condolence messages. We thank them for their messeges
Well Wishers, Family & Friends
