Mumbai: Polio had already left Venkateswaran Subramanian with a deformed left leg when he lost sight in his left eye at the age of six. The physical handicaps didn’t stop him from playing table tennis, but at 19, he knew they wouldn’t let him excel. But the Matunga Gymkhana had a billiards room, a game which fascinated the youngster enough for him to take it up.
Now 47, Mr. Subramanian is ranked 16 worldwide by World Billiards, the governing body for English Billiards, and has won the Open Disability Snooker Championship 2016, organised by World Disability Billiards And Snooker at Gloucester, U.K. “I was looking for something inside a cupboard when the sharp end of a clothes hanger hit me in the eye. I had already contracted polio as the anti-polio drops I was administered as a child turned out to be defective. With these disabilities hindering my performance in table tennis, I decided to switch to billiards,” he says.
Mr. Subramanian, Raja to friends, starts his day at 7.30 a.m. He gives tuition at his residence in Matunga till 10 a.m., has breakfast and begins his fitness regimen: a five-km walk in the morning, which takes him an hour-and-a-half, and a seven-km walk in the evening. This, he says, has been his routine for seven years now, and has helped battle obesity: he is now a dapper 68 kg, almost half the 112 kg he was earlier.
Fat to fit
Physical problems and Raja have never been far from each other. He began walking on doctor’s orders to reduce weight after a heart attack at 40, only to discover that he had osteoarthritis in his right leg. “I first start walking in water to make it easier. I would walk in the swimming pool at the Matunga Gymkhana, which helped me lose weight rapidly. Initially, it felt like the most difficult thing to do: walking back and forth, seeing the same sights every day.”
He brought his diet and lifestyle under control too: a short no-meat phase, more focus on fruits and vegetables, soups and salads, and quitting smoking. “I used to smoke more than 30 cigarettes a day. It was my smoking that caused the heart attack. Initially, it was difficult and I almost gave up twice, but I knew I would be digging my own grave if I resumed.”
Ajay Dware, Raja’s childhood friend who also plays snooker and table tennis at the Matunga Gymkhana, says, “Raja is the most dedicated person one can come across. He fought with his weight like a fighter. He has always been a fighter. Despite his ailments, he never lost heart. He never quits. Walking is the most boring exercise, yet he maintains his routine, even when he is travelling for international tournaments. He truly is a champion.”
Now, Raja says, he feels at home among fellow walkers. “Many strangers who noticed me walking and the results it brought, tell me how inspired they are by me. It feels wonderful to know your efforts are being appreciated.”
