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I have long dreamt of an aircraft far different from a plane or a chopper, I want to build it: Shantosh Lamichhane

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Glocal Teen Hero 2016: Winner’s Story

Just give him a remote control car on his birthday and it won’t be the same the next day. Shantosh Lamichhane started his Mechanical Journey the same way. Despite having no idea of what to do, an eagerness to try new things led him to take part in Science Exhibition, and he didn’t have to look backward then after. Modification of small cars into robots which works on the four-footed mechanism to a Corn Thresher Machine, he has done it all. He has even been recognized as the winner of the National Mechanical Exhibition.

Though he had many good friends who were supportive and loved his projects, there were lots of cases when he was only the one to stay after the classes and work on labs. Even in such situations, he never felt like going out to play or hang out. Instead, he would be playing with motors and that gave him more pleasure than playing the football.

Lamichhane had to overcome many hurdles to reach this position. Though he had many good friends who were supportive and loved his projects, there were lots of cases when he was only the one to stay after the classes and work on labs. Even in such situations, he never felt like going out to play or hang out. Instead, he would be playing with motors and that gave him more pleasure than playing the football.

It first happened when he was in class 6 when he first attempted to make a robot, and took a step into mechanical engineering, and he has been in the sector since then.

As many scientists need to go through, he too always wonders what’s going on inside a machine, and that drives him to open that machine, look after the inside parts and modify it at his best.

He also shares how he was influenced by the TV program ‘Art Attack’ on nick channel. “Such were my pre-engineering days. The arts seen in the programme and the way of making things there used to impress me a lot. I was probably 8-9 years old when I used to follow that program and try to make things seen on the programme.”

His curiosity grew even bigger and took a shape when he watched movie ‘3 idiots’ for the first time and started to feel the character ‘Rancho’ inside him.

And, that curiosity grew even bigger and took a shape when he watched movie ‘3 idiots’ for the first time and started to feel the character ‘Rancho’ inside him. “At the very moment, I felt like whatever I was doing was not wrong,” he reminisces.

Talking about the challenges for those carrying out scientific experiments in the case of Nepal, he says, “When I attempt to make something, since it would be the first attempt, I should have to go with lots of mistakes and that would cost me a lot. For example, when I try to make a machine for the first time any of a kind of machine, many motors, chains or other stuffs fail and I need to buy a new one. And, to buy the new ones, I need to ask for money with my parents. In such moments, I get a lot of scoldings.”

For him, managing the time also was no less challenging. For that, he used to stay awake whole night.

He remembers his beginning days into the mechanics as financially challenging, for which he used to take a loan from his friends and pay them saving his pocket money. He even remembers of having Gastritis because of this habit of him of not having lunch at school. “Furthermore, managing the time also was no less challenging. For that, I used to stay awake whole night,” he says.

“If I was found working on machines or drawings on daytime, my parents would have surely scolded me. So, I used to stay awake at night and do my stuffs. Fortunately, I have a separate room so I take a lot of advantage of it,” he shares.

As per Lamichhane, a scientist in Nepal needs to go through a lot of challenges, especially when they go against the society or when no-one understands the concept of the work.

“The problem is even bigger when your parents are not much educated, and you don’t have older siblings/cousins to support you. In my case, everyone was like “It’s expensive to study science in Nepal’, ‘It’s useless to study science in Nepal’ and many other stuffs,” he laments.

He further shares that his parents were upset when he took afternoon classes in his high school as they had thought that after passing SLC, one needs to study in the morning shift and work on the afternoon. “In the beginning, it was hard as they did not understand how precious my study and the experiments I had been conducting was. I don’t want to blame them for that though, since it’s our society that made them to believe in such thing,” he says.

Now, he feels glad that he tackled every such obstacle that came in his way and continued the journey.

“In such situations, I always remember Galileo Galilei as he is the one to introduce that the Sun itself does not rise from east and sets in the west, but it’s the Earth that rotates and makes the sun to seem rise and set. In practical life, though it seems like the Sun is moving, in reality it’s the earth that is rotating,” he says. “So, the whole world was against his theory and none believed him. But these days, everyone is sure that it’s Earth that rotates. So, I always remember him when I need to face such obstacles, and sometimes it also makes me to stand alone if I believe I am right, though the whole world might be against me,” he adds.

At the moment when I was standing in the middle of the stage holding the award, I had the best feelings in my life, but in the corner of my heart I was wishing if my dad was there. That time, I wanted him to know that all the crazy things his son was doing had a direction. On that very moment of getting the award, I also remembered those who never believed me and my works, those very people who used to be present as hurdles of my life.

Sharing about his experiences from winning the Glocal Teen Hero Competition, he says, “This competition made me to believe that an answer sheet in the examination is not everything that shows a person’s potential. I was happy when I got into top 6, and that was the moment I felt like I also have a potential.”Further, sharing about his experiences from the moment when he was standing in the middle of the stage holding the award, in the presence of various renowned personalities in the nation, he says, “That time, I had the best feelings in my life, but in the corner of my heart I was wishing if my dad was there. That time, I wanted him to know that all the crazy things his son was doing had a direction. On that very moment of getting the award, I also remembered those who never believed me and my works, those very people who used to be present as hurdles of my life.”

I have an idea in my mind. Everyday, I dream of an aircraft. This aircraft is far different from an aeroplane or a helicopter. So, I have thought that I need to study mechanical or aeronautical engineering to have that ability to bring that dream of mine into reality. And, these days, I am too focused on my US study so that I might land into a good university and hone my knowledge and skills there. As there are no such colleges in Nepal running an aeronautical programme, I am forced to migrate. Despite the blind government, I wish Nepal could develop on the technological sector as rapidly as possible. I just wish a good luck for that and Shantosh Lamichhane is always ready to serve Nepal!

Expressing his inner feelings, he says, “Everyone asks me time and again on what I want to be in the future, and my answer is always the same: I like not to be, but build. I have an idea in my mind. Everyday, I dream of an aircraft. This aircraft is far different from an aeroplane or a helicopter. So, I have thought that I need to study mechanical or aeronautical engineering to have that ability to bring that dream of mine into reality. And, these days, I am too focused on my US study so that I might land into a good university and hone my knowledge and skills there. As there are no such colleges in Nepal running an aeronautical programme, I am forced to migrate. Despite the blind government, I wish Nepal could develop on the technological sector as rapidly as possible. I just wish a good luck for that and Shantosh Lamichhane is always ready to serve Nepal!”