Arun Sarma was one of Assam's contemporary playwrights and is particularly known for his unconventional plays with some elements of drama.

In 1935, the family migrated to the village of Halemguri near the tea hamlet of Halem, where the elder Sarma, inspired by Gandhian ideals, decided to take up farming and engage himself in social work.

[5] Sarma started his career in Guwahati in the editorial staff of The Assam Tribune in 1954.

This was a period of strife in Assam and Sarma was called in to design and execute a set of projects to bridge the local tea industry and the Assamese people.

In 2005, Sarma designed, scripted and executed a son-et-lumiere (sound-and-light show) describing the history of Assam which is played daily at the Sankardeva Kalakshetra in Guwahati every evening.