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A
man with
a multifaceted
personality who is a sportsman, a
singer, a musician, a painter, a golfer and,
above all, in spite of excelling in so many fields, just a
humble person – he is none other than our very own Sanjay
Narayan Chowdhury.
Born into the famous Zamindari families of Assam – the
Naranarayans and the Chilarai of Goalpara, Assam, Sanjay
is a man with a great zest for life... always positive and
helpful towards all.
He started his education at Sainik School, Goalpara. The
knack for games, music and painting was evident right from
his very childhood. He was a good sportsman in school, who
excelled as a sprinter. His father, himself an all round
sportsman, bought him his first pair of roller skates when
he was in Class V and in no time Sanjay stood out as an
excellent skater. That was the period when Sanjay started
loving and getting attached to wheels, machines and
electronic items...a techno savvy person now, i would say!
An ardent
lover of music, he
was compelled to skip his
PT and drill classes in school and
join the school
band.He
played the bugle
so well that he was chosen to participate in the
Republic Day Parade at New Delhi in 1983 when Gyani
Zail Singh was the President of india. He even got the
opportunity of visiting Rashtrapati Bhavan for tea with the
President.
One other musical accomplishment in his repertoire is his
expertise in playing the guitar.
He tried his hand at painting too and had bagged the
second prize in the inter-Sainik School Painting
Competition held in Kerela.
Besides all his varied activities, Sanjay also managed to
pursue a good academic career. He was offered a scholarship
from the Assam Government to study
B.ScHorticulture in
Marathwada University, Maharashtra. After graduating
with flying colours in 1992 he started living in Kolkata with
his uncle. it was then that he applied for a job with
williamson Magor.
Here i would like to pen down a small but interesting
incident which he shared with me. in 1993 when he was a
fresher applying for jobs in various tea companies, he had
met Mr C.S. Lalkaka and collected a questionnaire to apply
for a job in our Company. His uncle with whom he was
staying had a lot of dogs. As soon as he came home the dogs
grabbed the file from him and tore the questionnaire to bits.
He was too scared to go back to Mr Lalkaka and ask for a
fresh one so he thought he would let some time pass before
he asked for a questionnaire again. He applied for the job a
second time and was selected in 1996 to join Jainti T.E. in
the Dooars under Mr Saibal Ghose. But for Destiny and the
~ Shibani Hazarika
Guwahati
Sanjay Narayan Chowdhury
– a profile
“He is a player who makes the most of his opportunity.
There’s not really one true outstanding trait that defines
him but rather you have to look at the whole package – his
versatility, his attitude, his ability”
~
Gord Ash
56 JULY 2015