As a child, Sima Saxena dreamed of a life in show business. But life got in the way.
On Tuesday, the Victoria woman’s dream came closer to reality as she performed a song she wrote for her late mother on the reality series Canada’s Got Talent.
Saxena, a mother of two and an administrator at Royal Jubilee Hospital, was born in India and grew up watching Bollywood movies with her mother. While she loved to sing, she put that desire aside to raise a family and put food on the table.
But she finally had a chance to perform publicly when she sang an ode to her mother before a panel of celebrity judges and a live studio audience on Canada’s Got Talent.
“I can’t believe I am here — singing has always been my passion,” said Saxena, who is in her 50s.
Her song, a catchy tune that got the judges bopping to the beat, was originally written — by her — in Hindi and translated into English.
The song came to her after her mother passed away, but she only found the time to fully develop it after COVID-19 hit and she spent more time at home.
“To me, the song says: ‘Hey mom, I made it’,” she said. “We both loved the music from those Bollywood movies.”
Over the years, she had performed duets with her husband just for fun, with her son, 28, and daughter, 24, as her biggest fans.
While she acknowledges she is competing with younger performers, she hopes that doesn’t stop her from advancing in the third season of the talent show, which premiered March 21.
“I believe that where there’s a will, there is a way.”
News of her performance found its way via social media back to India, which she left more than 30 years ago. While her immediate family is all in B.C., she received messages of encouragement from cousins and other relatives still in India.
While she has no plans to quit her day job, she hopes this week’s performance leads to other offers to sing in her native tongue — possibly on India’s Got Talent.
“Why not?” she said.