A miracle called Maria
By Suhasini Thomas

A month-old-infant, she stole the hearts of her future parents, Ranji and Ratna Samson on October 2, 1989, when they first sighted her at the Sishu Bhavan of Missionaries of charity, Delhi. They adopted this bundle of joy into their family without a second thought. Perhaps this noble move was catalysed by a premonition of the miracle this baby was to become for them. Christened Aathmaja Maria Samson, the tender child battled with life as she suffered from pneumonia in her first month, leaving her ill and vulnerable. The disease also impaired her hearing and speech ability and Aathmaja’s parents began their first fight with the imbroglio in their beloved daughter’s life. Teachers and friends too chipped in to help the child.

The family shifted base from Visakhapatnam to Bangalore to widen Aatmaja’s scope for exploring life. After being diagnosed with high frequency hearing loss at the age of five, she developed a fancy for a sport more popular with the boys – cricket. Chancing upon her interest in cricket, her father was determined to tap her potential and trained her in the game for a few years after which she attended summer coaching camps till the year 2000. Undeterred by people’s fallacies, the wonder kid began playing serious cricket and went on to represent the Karnataka state team in the Nationals ‘under 16.’ Till date, she is the youngest player in team at the age of 13.

Last summer, she won the Most Promising Cricketer award by the legendary B S Chandrasekhar in Bangalore. The recognition was earned after she performed consistently by taking regular wickets on the crease, topping it with a match winning performance against Delhi where she bagged five wickets for only nine runs.

Her close friends and family relate fondly about how Aatmaja realised at a very tender age what was beyond her capabilities. She concentrated on she was unmatched at…and that was cricket. None of her disabilities posed a hindrance to her making it to the State level. Says Aatmaja, “I love helping out Mom with the house work, which I am really good at…and I simply love my brindle boxer, Biju.”

A simple girl with simple tastes, but high ambitions. Aatmaja is definitely an inspiration to all kids.

Source: Deccan Chronicle
Dated 9th July, 2002