Nonagenaria Prabhawati Devi passes away

Our Correspondent

MANGALDAI: Prabhawati Devi, a nonagenarian ideal mother true to the sense, of Santipur in Mangaldai town is no more. A pious lady with her ever familiar motherly care and love to all, breathed her last on Thursday morning in a private hospital in Guwahati. She was 95.

Born to the family of Bhuban Dev Sarma and Dhiru Devi of village Baldebpara, Khatikuchi in Sipajhar area of Darrang district on June 22, 1925, Prabhawati Devi, due to her deep interest in academics, became the second girl student of Sipajhar High School. In 1938 she was married to founder Headmaster of Pacchim Rangamati High School and a prominent social worker, Karmi Dev Sarma of Bar Jamguri village near Mangaldai. Later, they shifted their residence to Santipur in Mangaldai. However, in 2000 her husband passed away.

As an ideal mother, Prabhawati Devi guided and moulded her six sons and two daughters in settling down in their respective fields. Significant aspect of this humble housewife can well be judged from the fact that her eldest son Pabitra Sarma took his retirement as a senior official in the State Forest Department while her second son Dulal Sarma is the first Assamese to be promoted to the post of Visiting Agent of multinational tea giant McLeod Russel and was entrusted to look after 25 tea gardens of the company in the north bank. Her fourth son at present is serving as the Divisional Forest Officer of Dhansiri Forest division in Udalguri district. The NH 52 dhaba owned and managed by her fifth son Pankaj Sarma has meanwhile earned a reputation for quality service in the entire north bank while her youngest son Himanjan Sarma is a promising entrepreneur.

The Darrang district committee of Sadou Asom Lekhika Sanstha, realizing all the good values in her personality, in 2010 on International Women’s Day conferred her the ‘Adarsha Matri’ award.

On receipt of the news of her demise, a large number of admirers and mourners, besides her family members, rushed to her residence to pay their last respects. Mangaldai legislator Guru Jyoti Das, Additional Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Chakravarty, industrialist Anupam Deka, AGP activist Naba Deka, media persons Hemanta Kumar Barua and Bhargab Kumar Das, AASU activist Khanindra Rajbongshi, AJYCP activist Himadree Kumar Sarma and wildlife activist of Udalguri, Naba Jyoti Barua also offered their last respects and attended the funeral at the public crematorium at Tengabari in presence of a large number of mourners.

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