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Moresports Personality Profiles

Sivansh: Working Like a Dog in His Community
By Kimberly Daum

Sivansh

They say that dogs are great judges of character, that when a dog rejects or accepts you it indicates how trustworthy you really are. If that's true (and a consensus of canine-lovers says it is), 16-year-old Sivansh is a keeper, an authentic soul, someone with whom you can connect, someone with whom you feel safe, and someone you'd appreciate having as your two-legged best friend.

My dog had a love-at-first-sight crush on Sivansh. It was so immediate and affectionate that during our interview when a neighbour's circular saw made that annoying, ear-piercing noise she brushed right by me to sit at Sivansh's legs. "Ee-ew," she seemed to be saying. "How aggravating is that?" she seemed to be asking. "Let's cuddle and tune that nasty sound out because I know you understand me," her body language spoke as she nestled right in between his knees.

The two locked eyes and both grinned. Contagious grins. We all started laughing.

My dog and Sivansh have several qualities in common. As a herding dog, a working dog, she is all about keeping a group together, showing leadership and poise, and taking pressure off of others. And, those attributes are easily apparent in Sivansh when you first meet him. And that's surprising in a way when you consider who and how he was a boy.

"I cried because I didn't want to go to (the first day of) school. I could speak English but didn't because I was severely shy. I was the one kid who wouldn't talk, but I did make some friends."

That was Sivansh's experience in Grade One shortly after he immigrated to Quebec from India with his mother, Syama, who works at an accounting firm, his father, Himansu, who is a civil engineer, and his older sister, Rani, who is now 24.

"We landed in Montreal," he says, "and it was pretty cold, pretty boring and cold there, and then we moved to Vancouver."

Times have changed for the better since. Today Sivansh says he's chatty "once (he's) comfortable" and far too engaged in good things to be bored. Instead, he's busy.

"I wasn't really involved much in sports when I was young," Sivansh says. "Then I played soccer for awhile, just pick up at school, and joined a team, and I played one year of rugby."

"And, I applied for Leadership 11 this year (at Killarney Highschool)," he says. "It's a class you have to apply for. It's for people who want to get involved in the community. We also do a lot of work around the school. Amrita Grewal is the volunteer coordinator for our school."

Sivansh says his "hard-working" parents were the impetus for his participation in volunteerism.

"They told me to get out and do more stuff and before Grade 11 I didn't do much," he says. "My sister has done a lot of volunteer work. She's involved a lot in fundraising runs."

Sivansh says he's drawn positive traits from all of his family members.

"My mom is hardworking, very honest, and she's a good cook. I'm hardworking and I like to think I'm honest but cooking not so much. My dad is also hardworking, very disciplined and smart. He played basketball. I'm smart; I know that. I get good grades in biology, chemistry, and English. And my sister is hardworking, involved, and an extrovert but her cooking, not so much," he laughs.

Sivansh has dove-tailed all of those attributes into work on the ground and Amrita's enthusiasm has been his inspiration for adding to his volunteer activities.

He took the YELL Certification Program in basketball and coaches MoreSports kids from Grades 4 through 7.

After getting certified he began volunteering for a homework club at Cook Elementary with kids in Grades 4 and 5.

"And I volunteer for Canucks Autism Network at the YMCA, training soccer skills. Amrita offered a disability awareness course which I took and it led to volunteer opportunities."

"In terms of my leadership class five or six of us are volunteering, but among my other friends only a couple are volunteering," he says.

His policy is, he says, to "just try to be as nice as possible to the kids."

"Volunteering is good experience for future things. It teaches you how to handle people; it teaches coaching and it's fun," he says.

"They (the MoreSports kids) have to get to have fun, and I'd like to think I'm a role model, I hope so. In terms of the autistic children, they don't speak much. With them it's more interactive. It's quite interesting. It's not like dealing with other children because these children have a harder time in situations and the thought process is different so you have to learn to speak to them differently. Learning to deal with the hardships of autism allows me to be more patient and disciplined."

When I comment that Sivansh shows a remarkable versatility through his various pursuits he says:

"Most of my friends growing up weren't really ethnic, if that's the word. They were mostly western. My friends were Caucasian, Asian, and Indian. That's where my versatility comes from."

And he says volunteering, particularly coaching and the training he's had, has changed him in measurable ways.

"I'm much more open-minded and much more comfortable talking with people and better at managing time."

He seems almost in shock when he says he's good at time management and one really gets the sense that this attribute was built from a weakness into an ability and with practice it became a strength for him. When I suggest that's the case he says: "That's a good way to put that. That really works for me."

He says that sometimes, when he's tired or stressed, he lacks the motivation to show up, but he always follows through and by the time he leaves he's looking forward to going back next time.

"Showing up when I don't want to," he says, "it adds to my work ethic." He's become more reliable and responsible, more caring and thoughtful.

"Volunteer work builds a lot of character," he says. "It's great for your personality, makes you much more confident, gives you something to do and you're productive. And, if you think of it on a more selfish level, it's great on a resume and a networking opportunity, and it will get you much further in life if you do it."

Today, he understands why his parents introduced volunteerism to him as a value.

"My parents would probably say, "Finally," he laughs. "They'd say good for you for getting up and getting going. They'd say I have a lot more character, that I'm less naïve and more driven."

He intends to use that drive to attain in university degree in psychology or social work, to get a job, raise a family, and buy a house and car.

"UBC is my first choice," he says.

And, he has some advice to share with the kids he coaches, helps with homework and trains:

"Put more thought and energy into your successes than your mistakes," he says. "Make sure that you're liking what you're doing; if you're not liking it there's very little point to doing it."

And he encourages parents "to be more patient and open-minded with their kids' abilities to play; let the kids set their own expectations."

But he couldn't get out of the door without a "wassup" and "thanks" for Amrita. "She's pretty awesome because she's obviously nice, and thorough, competent and light-hearted."

"I've got to get going," he said as he ruffled my dog's ears to say farewell. "I've got work to do."

Yep, Sivansh works like a dog for his community. I guess you could say he's a community's best friend.