Age never defines ambition and it rings true for Sharada Bhakta Rajbhandari, dearly known as “Raj dai” by everyone around him. He is 77 but no one would believe his age. A tall man with a beaming face, he was the bright sun to the cloudy day as we met him at Buddha Air’s hangar at the Tribhuvan International Airport. Raj dai is a Base Maintenance Manager at Buddha Air and has been working for 52 years in the aviation sector. For him, age is just a number. “I’m still young,” says Raj dai. “Each decade that I’ve worked for seems like a year so I feel like I’ve only worked for 6 years!”

As the videography team prepares the cameras, behind us, planes take flight one after another across the runway. “It’s the morning rush hour,” explains Raj dai. Inside the hangar, a Buddha Air aircraft goes through maintenance checks. Raj dai’s job is to make sure that everything on the plane is fitted, repaired and replaced properly. He sees to it that every little detail is taken care of. And the aircraft made a perfect backdrop for his interview.

Raj dai hadn’t initially planned to work in aviation. In fact, he wanted to join the army. But fate had another path laid out for him. After completing his Bachelors of Science from Nepal, he was selected along with 12 of his friends to study in Pakistan. After that in 1967, he came back to Nepal and started working for Nepal Airlines until 1999 when he retired from the office. But he wasn’t done just yet. He worked as a freelancer for some time after that and started working with Buddha Air from 2008, at first, as a counselor, teaching pilots and mechanics and after that as a full time staff.

As he led me to his office, we met Mr Basnet, Buddha Air’s Managing Director in the hallway who introduced Raj dai to a delegate from the French Embassy. “He is our Raj dai, one of our best employees,” says Mr. Basnet. It is easy to see that Raj dai loves what he does and the mutual respect he has for his colleagues. His ability to look at the world with a child-like enthusiasm is a trait that anyone will find inspiring.

“Learning does not stop when you get older. Neither is teaching limited to age or your status,” he says. Raj dai tells me a story of a time when he and his staff were trying to fit a cover in the aircraft. “We referred to the manual and tried time and again to insert the cover but it would just not cooperate. It had been quite a while when I noticed our cleaning guy had been looking at us for some time. Jokingly I told him to come up and help us with the task. He just stared at us thoughtfully and then replied, ”Raj dai, why don’t you apply some grease to the sides and it should fit just fine.” And it did! The part about applying grease was never mentioned in the manual.”    

For Raj dai, the hangar is a place of solace. He admits that he comes to work even if he is not feeling well because here, it keeps his mind busy. But being so dedicated to work, I asked him when he finds the time for his family. It turns out he’s had to cancel many plans with his wife because he is so caught up with his work. “My wife complains that she can’t make any plans with me because I always cancel them,” he says “But it is not as difficult to convince her as it is to convey passengers about a delayed flight. Over the years, she has become very understanding,” he adds. As for his kids, he never gave pressure to his two sons to join him in aviation. But he has a proud grandson. Everytime a Buddha Air’s craft flies overhead, his grandson is the one to point to the sky and shout “Bajey’s plane.”

Working as a Base Maintenance Manager is not an easy job. However, Raj dai’s positive outlook on life has helped him to get by. “Life is always tough but once you get used to it, you just keep moving ahead. That is how you take it. Once you learn to enjoy life, your hardships just move to the background,” he says. Before taking flight, each aircraft requires almost 12 hours of prep work that is looked over by Raj dai. It is a stressful task to make sure that all things are in order. But when the airplane takes to the sky, he cannot help but smile to himself.

After the interview, he takes us around for a tour of the hangar. He was like a young kid proudly showing off his favorite toy, showing every room and admiringly describing each role that his colleagues play. Then he even takes us to the cafeteria to taste Buddha Air’s famous muffins. “My career has been a beautiful story,” he says, but I don’t see him slowing down in his career any time soon. We munch on the warm muffins as we continue to chitchat with the humble yet inspiring man who despite his age, is lovingly known by everyone as the “big brother”.

 
• sharada bhakta rajbhandari
 
• raj dai
 
• buddha air
 
• base maintenance manager