File picture of an archery contest

Imphal, Oct. 8: Manipur?s assembly line of sportspersons has won fame at both the national and international arenas, but few know that bows and arrows manufactured in the state, too, have been hitting the bull?s eye at these events.

B. Chaoba Sharma of Imphal?s Brahmapur Nahabam locality specialises in manufacturing archery paraphernalia. The 51-year-old sports enthusiast quit his job as junior engineer in the state irrigation and flood control department in 1973 to manufacture bows and arrows and groom archers.

Sharma?s creations are popular with archers from not only Manipur but also other states of the country. The Tata Archery Academy buys his products in bulk.

Fascinated by the sport at a tender age, Sharma received his first lessons on how to use the traditional Manipuri bow at the age of four from Brajamani Mukherjee, a martial arts guru. Archery has since been his passion. He participated in archery competitions at the national level when he was younger and once attended the selection trials for an Asian archery championship.

After taking voluntary retirement, Sharma took to making bows. Within two years, his products found wide acceptance and his Angela Archery Centre became a brand of sorts. ?Dola Bannerji, Reena Kumari and Sumangla Sharma, who were in the Athens Olympics contingent, began their career by using my equipment. The Bulgarian coach of the Indian archery squad, too, used one of my creations,? says Sharma.

Though manufacturing bows and arrows is his speciality, Sharma has also trained archers, including his younger sisters Basanti Devi ? a former national champion who is now the chief coach of the Manipur archery team ? and Angela, a national-level competitor.

Sharma recalls that the Indian Archery Association introduced an ?Indian round? in archery competitions after his bamboo bow became popular. He claims the bamboo bow is as good, if not better, than the modern versions. ?In one contest, Sumangla Sharma earned more points by using a bamboo bow than other international players who used more sophisticated fibre equipment.?

Though Sharma has started getting orders from countries such as Sri Lanka, Singapore and Bangladesh, he finds it difficult to meet the demands because of a financial crunch. ?I have been facing financial difficulties, which makes it difficult for me to supply the equipment to foreign countries on time. I applied to the North Eastern Council for finance to expand my manufacturing unit and it agreed to help. But the files are pending in the state?s planning and sports department,? he says.

But the financial obstacles have failed to deter the sports enthusiast. Assisted by his students, he continues to work in his small house-turned-workshop. Sharma uses locally available bamboo and wood for bows and other products, except arrows, for which he has to get raw materials from Meghalaya.

?With or without help from the authorities, I will work till I die,? says Sharma, who, like the legendary archer Arjun, has fixed his eyes only on the target.