Sammy Toora, The Jolly Good Fellow!
Originally from New Delhi, India, Toora moved to Vancouver (Canada) in 1988 and like a number of other immigrants, Toora feels pleased with his family’s decision to move to Canada and be reunited with his sister under Canada’s Family Reunification Program.
“I have no regrets for moving to Canada; I had good opportunities in India, and, I have good opportunities in Canada,” says Toora.
One of Toora’s passions is ‘power-lifting’ and the opportunity to continue with his passion for competing in Power-lifting is something Toora really feels pleased about.
“Not all immigrants can say that they had the opportunity to carry on with their passions in a new country. I can,” continues Toora.
Toora’s journey into the field of power-lifting was started in 1983 when he first entered and competed in the local tournament – the Government Colonies Tournament in New Delhi. Although his initial entry into the competition did not land any medals for Toora, his passion for Power-lifting was ignited. This initial entry also gave Toora the well-deserved recognition and he was inspired to dive deeper into the ocean of power-lifting.
After immigrating to Canada and taking a short break, Toora once again immersed into his passion for the Power-lifting and he started competing in BC Championships in 1996.
From 1996 to 2009, Toora explains with pride that he was the “only Indo Canadian power-lifter who competed for 13 years in a row”.
The first open Canadian powerlifting championship Toora competed was in 1998. Toora then also competed in the national championships in 2004 and 2006.
“In 2005, I was pleased to set up new bench-press record and in 2006, a new National record (Master’s BC record) of Bench-press by lifting 405 pounds”.
2009 was the last year Toora competed in a tournament.
“I did not quit… just taking some time off to spend quality time with my grown-up twin children, Jason and Jasmine. I want to start competing by enrolling in the Master-2 age class (50-60 years) once I get settled down with my domestic responsibilities,” explains Toora.
Taking a break is probably good approach for finding a balance between work, family, and leisure. Although preparing and competing in a tournament is not a leisurely activity, for Toora, power-lifting is his passion that he cannot stay away from for too long.
Whether competing in a tournament, or living a domestic life, Toora lives his life as a proud human being. He is also a strong believer of the ‘self-respect movement’ and as such, he takes his passion and beliefs seriously. This was probably one of the reasons why Paul Dhillon, journalist/editor (The Link Newspaper) described Toora as the ‘Tower of Power’ in his June 3rd, 2000 report published in The Tribune. In this report, Dhillon wrote:
“They don’t call Indo-Canadian Sammy Toora ‘Tower of Power’ for nothing. The New Delhi-born well-known powerlifter who has been racking up victories in gyms in the Canadian province of British Columbia again took first place at the 2000 Provincial Powerlifting Championships.”
Living in Canada does not mean that Toora has always lived in a ‘garden of roses’. There were times when Toora felt he was discriminated against – coincidently, not because of racism, but, because of casteism. “Being discriminated by people of your own community is much harder to accept and this experience, was indeed a difficult time for me to forget”, recalls Toora.
Toora’s first stint at facing discrimination in Canada was when his co-worker tried to intimidate and belittle him because of his ancestry. In face of this discrimination, Toora fought back and exposed this caste-based discrimination by going public. Toora was pleased when Canadians from all walks of life came out and stood in solidarity and joined him in denouncing caste-based and all other forms of discriminations in Canada.
Being serious about his passion and his beliefs may lead one to wonder whether Toora is all seriousness and no fun!
Yes, Toora does have a lighter side. A quick review of his Facebook posts reveals that he indeed enjoys and lives every moment of his life. In his spare time, Toora is very active with his posts on Facebook and most of his posts are about him living a jolly-good life. No wonder, some of Toora’s close friends fondly call him: “a jolly good fellow!”
Jai Birdi
