Alappuzha: C. Raja, a 20-year-old footballer and bank employee, had never seen a football 12 years ago when he was rescued from the begging mafia in Thrissur district and brought to the Janaseva Boys' Home in Madhurappuram, Ernakulam. The home was run by a former international athlete, Jose Maveli, and it was not long before his natural talents at the game were spotted by noted coach Soly Xavier, who played right back for the National team from 1986-’89.
“I was selected for the State football team in 2009,” says Raja. “But the team was unable to win matches and was dissolved. The Central Bank of India then offered me a job at its Angamaly branch a year ago on the basis of my abilities at football. I switched from playing to working at the bank. I still live under the shadow of Soly Xavier and Jose Maveli and chase a dream to be part of the National team. I devote hours on the field every day to accomplish this dream of mine to play for India. And I can do it," he says.
Raja has come a long way and faced a life full of hardship to be able to show so much determination today. Born in Salem in Tamil Nadu in 1994, he was four when his mother was poisoned by her family for marrying below her caste.
A couple of years later his father fell ill and lost his job at a sugarcane factory. Hoping their luck would change, the boy and his father headed for the town of Thrissur, but quickly found themselves penniless and on the streets. With his father too ill to work, Raja turned to begging.
“I’ve no connection with my relatives anymore. My father died some years ago. After football came into life, it taught me how to go forward,” he says.
His coaches are excited about his abilities and he was also featured in the international media in 2009.
Though a diehard fan of Cristiano Ronaldo’s, Raja is now rooting for Brazil. “Brazil’s way of playing is the best,” he says. “I keep watching the style and strategies Brazil uses against its rivals. So far, the play of the Sambas in the World Cup has been simply awesome. I hope they will lift the Cup,” he says, sounding like any other sleepless football fan.
