Devasish Sharma (in denims) addresses a roadside meeting at a village

Guwahati, Dec. 4: An officer and a gentleman. Nobody perhaps deserves this epithet more than Devasish Sharma.

At a time when officialdom is a byword for corruption and apathy, the deputy resident commissioner of Assam Bhawan, Mumbai, stands out as an exception. Spreading awareness about cancer in faraway villages in Assam isn’t charity for him. He says it is his “passion”. A man in a hurry to achieve his mission before it is too late, Sharma has taken a 20-day leave to help cancer victims.

His team, comprising a band of professional musicians, is trying to reach out to the masses through a specially-composed song. They hold roadside meetings and distribute leaflets to tell the ignorant villagers that cancer can be cured if detected early.

His Delhi University batchmates as well as the corporate world have pitched in with a promise of Rs 20 lakh as donation for the patients’ treatment.

To keep controversy at bay, Deepsikha — the NGO which Sharma has floated — will only recommend patients to the donors who will bear the cost of treatment and foot the hospital bill.

Pointsmen have been appointed in areas they had toured to ensure that the campaign does not lose steam. To generate awareness about cancer, Sharma has set up two groups which will conduct streetplays after a month.

His colleagues, too, stand by him during his ongoing journey through the virtually inaccessible stretches in the worst-affected Barpeta, Darrang, Goalpara, Kamrup and Jorhat districts.

It all started in October 2003 when he witnessed the excruciating pain of cancer patients who were brought in Mumbai for treatment at Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH). The anxiety of their distraught relatives who dropped by at Assam Bhawan spurred Sharma to adopt his mission.

In most cases, the patients reach Mumbai when the disease has reached terminal stages — a situation which the officer hopes to change.

Sharma has translated into Assamese the literature published by TMH’s preventive oncology department for distribution among the target group.

“Helping the villagers is a blessing for me. I am here not with any revolutionary message. I just want to do something for these helpless people who don’t have access to the media,” he said with a disarming smile.

“Even if 10 villagers quit smoking or chewing gutka after our trip, we will have reasons to smile. This drive is about enlightening them about the disease and telling them how to stay away from it. Detection is not the end of the road,” Sharma said at the end of his two-day trip to Barpeta.

“Most people we interacted with has a feeling that once cancer is detected, their death warrants have been signed. This is farthest from the truth. Timely intervention can save lives.”

Sharma, who plans an evaluation trip after three months, cites the example of Nupur Bordoloi, noted musician and a member of his band.

“He has been saved in the nick of time. He is back to professional life and is backing my effort. At least five to six cancer patients approach us every day in Mumbai. We do our best to help them out. Our state government has sanctioned Rs 2 crore for the expansion of Assam Bhawan.”