Gairapatan, January 5:

A modest house — complete with zinc coating on the rooftop — stands apart among Lahure settlements. The house belongs to Bikas Parajuli, who has captured the national imagination for his recent engineering marvel. He designed the maiden indigenous ultra-light aircraft Danfe.

The credit goes to his mother, Goma, whose unstinted support helped him overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. Tragedy struck the family in 2003 when his father suffered a paralytic stroke, rendering him immobile and speechless. It was left to Goma to take care of household chores and inspire Bikas to attain the feat.

“He has all along been laborious and pragmatic. Most children love to damage things, but he had an inclination towards fixing them. He once repaired a toy gun, which belonged to a child in our neighbourhood,” she reminisced fondly. In retrospect, Bikas had the single-minded devotion since his formative years to become an engineer. Perhaps, that explains why the financial odds — his father worked as peon in Kaski District Court — didn’t deter him to pursue his aim in life. Also, help was at hand, thanks to an enterprising Goma. She opened a tea stall, in the premises of her husband’s office to supplement his paltry income. Later, she turned it into a cosmetic shop after his father got transferred. Bikas got his formative education in Kumudini Homes and Pratibha Boarding School and went on to graduate from Pulchowk Engineering Campus in Lalitpur.

On completion of his studies, he confided in his mother of his cherished dream: he wanted to design an aircraft. An expensive proposition for the impoverished family Goma, however, was ever ready to realise her son’s vaulting ambitions. She sold seven annas land to finance the project, which saw the light of the day on December 6, much to the sceptics’ surprise. The proud mother, though, never had an iota of doubt in her son’s ability. “I was confident that Bikas will be able to successfully design the plane,” she said.

“This is a labour of love of the Danfe Aircraft Fabrication Group, which boasts of seven of us. It was an expensive initiative that required an investment of around Rs 1 million,” said Bikas.

At present, the aircraft occupies its pride of place at Pokhara Airport.

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Hisila Yami had ordered for allocating space for the Danfe plane at International Mountaineering Museum in Ratopairo, Pokhara.