Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance

Sudarshan Dhakal crouches next to a motorcycle, carefully runs his fingers over its engine, finds the faulty part and removes it. 

He gets a spare part and replaces the component. He tests the engine, which roars into life emitting blue smoke from the silencer.

Sudarshan, 54, owns and runs Dhakal Motorcycle Workshop with his wife Kamala Aryal. It is like thousands of other repair shops along the highway. What makes this one different is that Sudarshan cannot see.

It was 1996 when Sudarshan was in a group ferrying brand new Honda motorcycles from the warehouse in Hetauda to the Dharan showroom. Near the Kosi Barrage, the car in front of him braked abruptly.

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The last thing Sudarshan ever saw was the car’s red brake light before he lost his vision. He had managed to pull over by the side of the road when his friends came back to look for him. 

“When they found me that day, I could just make out the white of the highway centreline, and car lights,” Sudarshan recalls. Ever since, Sudarshan can only see dimly during the daytime, and not at all in the dark.

“Everything looks foggy, and I wondered if there was a treatment,” adds Sudarshan, who still bumps into things but has learnt to get around. 

Doctors at Tilganga Hospital had told him after the accident that his optic nerves had been damaged and there was nothing they could do. He went to India for a second opinion, but the diagnosis was the same.  

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Sudarshan was not one to lose hope. He might have lost his eyesight, but not his passion for motorcycles. He can tell what is wrong just by revving the engine. In case the motorcycle cannot start at all, he uses his tools deftly to get to the bottom of it. For electrical faults, he needs his wife or son to help him with the colours of the wires.

He can also assemble small parts of motorcycles without help. “It might take me a few tries, but eventually, the parts fit where they are supposed to,” he says. 

As a young boy, Sudarshan realised that he did not have much of an aptitude for academics after failing his Grade 9 exams. So, at age 16, he taught himself to repair Japanese cars simply by looking at catalogues.  

Today at his garage, Sudarshan takes care of maintenance while Kamala handles customers and does procurement. When there is a heavy workload, Kamala joins her husband and gets her hands dirty as well. 

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Their son Rajiv has also been trained in repairs. If a bike needs a test run, Rajiv takes it out for a spin. Rajiv is actually a priest, and is mostly away from home officiating rituals. But whenever he is free he helps out his parents.

“I wondered why this pundit in his white robe, his Sanskrit hymns and the smell of incense would want to work in a greasy, dirty garage that reeks of kerosene,” says Sudarshan. “It took some time for him to adjust, but now he enjoys this work as well.”

It has been 27 years since Sudarshan lost his eyesight, but he has not let this stop him from continuing with his profession. The Dhakal family makes a decent living, and Sudarshan attributes this to his passion, skill and experience.

"No job is too big or small," says Sudarshan, “what is more important is dedication, integrity and a sense of fulfilment from helping others.”

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