From the moment you met Pankha as a child, you could tell there was something different about him. He had a way of speaking that was both charming and enigmatic, and he seemed to know things that no one else did. He was always up to something, and you never quite knew what it was. He had a mischievous streak that ran through everything he did, from playing with wire, to playful teasing, to his elaborate magic shows. He loved to keep people guessing, and he was always pushing the boundaries of what was supposed to be new. 

He was incredibly and endlessly curious about things in life, mainly technologies. Despite his curiosity, he was also shrouded in mystery. There were things about him that no one could quite figure out. 

In the early days at the Kopila Children’s Home, the children experienced a blackout around 11:00 at night. Maggie, who was in her room in a video meeting, stared blank at her bright screen as the internet cut off. If you could hear the sound of a blackout, it would be a sound of silence. 

Maggie came out, distressed and worried, to see what had happened. With a torch (flashlight) in her hand, she saw Pankha in front of a power supply, which was attached to the wall in his room, with a guilty expression and screwdrivers in his hands. All the children had tagged along with her to see,  and to their distress, they found out that Pankha was fascinated by the box; he wanted to unscrew it and see its internal clockwork magic.  

There were many incidents where Pankha’s curiosity got the best of him. One time, during Diwali (a Nepali festival), Pankha was playing with firecrackers in the front yard, and he got so close to it the fire burned his eyebrows and eyelashes, literally wiping them off. His siblings laughed for days, talked about it for days! But they were also relieved that he was unharmed. 

Pankha is always looking for the next thrill, the next mystery to solve, the next puzzle to unravel. No one really knows what Pankha is capable of, but one thing’s for sure: he always keeps things interesting. 

Apart from his keen curiosities about life and its offerings, Pankha loved one more thing: Clash Of Clan, a video game. His love for the game is not what’s important here, but the doors it opened up for him are important. “I was maybe 14 or 15 at the time when Clash Of Clan was popular among young boys and girls. Being unable to use the internet for games like this, except for educational purposes, I started to find other ways to play video games. The first skill I learned was to hack internet passwords, after watching Youtube videos and trying and failing, again and again. In every attempt, I learned new things. I even came to know that Twitter offered free user data. One thing led to another, and I started to see a whole new world at such a young age,” he says. He gravitated to the computer world, and he got hooked.

By the time Pankha transitioned out of the Children’s Home in 2019 and graduated from Kopila Valley in 2020, he knew what he wanted to pursue further. He found a good college in Kathmandu that offered classes for software engineering, and he’s in his second year now. “I truly love software engineering, and I feel incredibly grateful to be on this journey of learning and growth.” He also is interning at an IT company. Every day, he finds himself completely engrossed in every project that comes his way. In his spare time, he has built Tiktok filters and even created a small and easy online game for phones. “The feeling of creating something from scratch and watching it come to life on a computer screen is exhilarating,” he says, seeming content. 

Learning is a continuous journey and one that never truly ends. Pankha is a self-taught graphic designer and secured an internship position in a real estate company. He was often praised for his skill and the new ideas he brought to the table, so he earned a long-term position. It’s been almost four years that he has worked for the real estate company. 

By embracing learning as a lifelong journey, Pankha continues to grow, adapt, and thrive in an ever-changing world.  He is leading his life in Kathmandu by going to college in the morning and working during the daytime. He always makes time for family gatherings, hikes, and futsal, and he often works out to keep himself healthy. But everyday, he spreads kindness. In fact, he says it himself, “Kindness is an investment.” Let’s commit to being kind to ourselves and others, and let’s embrace the endless opportunities for growth and learning that lie ahead.