Beating the odds

Well,when you have overcome the kind of impediments that Raja has had to,life itself would seem a blessing. A dodgy vaccine had resulted in him being inflicted with polio on his right-leg when he was just two. At six,a hanger accident had destroyed the internal optic nerve in his right-eye,rendering him partially blind. These harrowing trysts with disaster and physical trauma,however,never managed to quell Raja from pursuing his quest. A bypass surgery was hardly going to faze him. This was just the latest chapter in the astonishing life-story of ‘Fighter’ Raja—a title both apt and deserved.

Being positive come what may has not just been a significant motto for him. That is in fact been the fabric of Raja’s life. And it comes through with almost everything he does,both with his beloved cue-stick and without. It also comes through when he terms all the challenges that life has thrown at him as ‘freak accidents’. And you can’t help but be amazed when he calls his heart ailment a sensational blessing in disguise.

“It forced me to make crucial changes in my lifestyle. I stopped smoking. I started exercising more. And I ended up losing close to 18-20 kilos after the surgery. It’s made me feel 10 years younger,” says Raja.

Most importantly,Raja claims,it’s had a telling impact on his prowess as a billiards player. Having turned professional back in 1995,the former junior state champion has remained on the fringes of the top-tier of the state’s billiards circuit throughout—ranked No.4 for a major part. But the masssive weight-loss and fitness regime post-surgery have pushed his game to a new level,believes Raja. And it’s this run of form that has been responsible for him being among the five cueists,who will fly to Leeds later this month to compete in the World Championships of Billiards. A few under-par performances during the selection camps in Indore and Hyderabad though have ensured that Raja hasn’t gotten a direct entry into the main draw. And he will have to first get past the qualifiers stage.

“I played in a tournament at Elphinstone Cricket Club less than two months after my bypass. And I just felt more at ease with my game,getting a break of 191. My performances from thereon have just been much better,and I have been approaching each contest with more confidence than ever before,” he adds.

Raja insists that his physical disparities have never attracted any special treatment. And it’s his passion for sport that has always provided him with solace and a pathway to a very normal life.

“I was encouraged to go and pursue table-tennis at Matunga Gymkhana when I was young. And I got real good at it,even making it to the state junior team that included the likes of Kamlesh Mehta. But then my physical weaknesses started getting the better of me. I couldn’t put my entire weight on my right leg,and my vision too was hampering me after a level,” recalls Raja.

It just took a freak—that term again—visit to the billiards room to get some air-conditioning after a strenuous table-tennis workout,and watching Nalin Patel upset Geet Sethi,for Raja to develop a new interest.

“This was back in 1991-92. Sir Wilson Jones also deserves a lot of credit as he was our coach there. And I just took to billiards very easily,and before I knew it I started doing well and won the junior championships. There have been highs and lows ever since but I have never been bogged down,” says Raja,who finished No.2 in the nationals this year.

Raja has supplemented his income by taking tuitions at home for kids from standard XI to their CA Inters. And he now hopes that his performances with the cue-stick this season will help him score a job too.

Having been a believer in the euphemism,after the darkness comes the dawn,all his life,Raja is confident that this challenge too shall be conquered. Few have seen the number of dawns that he has in his astounding life story.