A short film · 20 scenes · about 4 minutes
The Tinkerer
A curious boy from Kathmandu, a cassette player, and a screwdriver. The true story of how taking things apart led to building software, and then to learning how businesses work.
Once upon a time…
01 / 20 · Age 6
The Sound
Once upon a time, in a small home in Kathmandu, a father played music on an old cassette player. And from behind the sofa, a little boy couldn't look away. Where was that sound coming from?
Scene 1: The Sound (Age 6)
Once upon a time, in a small home in Kathmandu, a father played music on an old cassette player. And from behind the sofa, a little boy couldn't look away. Where was that sound coming from?
Scene 2: Play. Pause. Play. (Age 6)
He crept closer, picked it up, and turned it over and over. Play. Pause. Play. Pause. Every click was a tiny miracle.
Scene 3: Watching Dad (Age 6)
Every day, he watched his father fix things. A screwdriver here, a pair of pliers there. And the boy studied every single turn.
Scene 4: The Screwdriver (Age 6)
But one day, nobody was watching, and the screwdriver was right there. He opened the machine to find where the sound lived, and took it completely apart.
Scene 5: It Falls Apart (Age 6)
He couldn't put it back together, so he closed it up quietly and said nothing. Then his father pressed play, and the whole thing fell apart in his hands.
Scene 6: Always Thinking (Age 6)
There was a scolding, of course. But something inside the boy had changed forever. From that day on, he was always thinking. How is this made? Who made it? And how do I fix it?
Scene 7: Copying the Craftsmen (Age 9)
Because of that, he watched the carpenters and craftsmen of his street, and copied every move. He made mistakes. He remembered them. And with every mistake, his hands grew wiser.
Scene 8: Classroom Engineer (Age 12)
At school, even the click of a ballpoint pen was a mystery worth breaking open. His mind was always busy, reverse-engineering the world, while the teacher spoke of Math and English.
Scene 9: The First Laptop (Age 14)
Then came his first laptop. He heard the hard drive clicking, and of course, he opened it. He broke it. Then he tried a hundred more times, until he could fix it.
Scene 10: The Neighbourhood Fixer (Age 15)
The neighbours noticed. One day, they called him for an electrical repair. A few shocks, a lot of research, and finally, the lights came back on.
Scene 11: Better and Better (Age 15–17)
Day after day, repair after repair, he got better and better. The neighbours paid him in sweets and gratitude. And before he knew it, the curious boy had grown up.
Scene 12: Everything Clicks (Grades 11–12)
Because of that, when he studied science in grades eleven and twelve, everything clicked. Physics, chemistry, biology. His hands already knew what the books were trying to say.
Scene 13: Hardware → Software (Age 18)
Then he discovered the computer. Night after night, YouTube became his teacher. He learned language after language, failed, learned again, and launched his first website.
Scene 14: The Repair Bench (Age 19)
He went looking for work, showed what he could do, and landed a job repairing electronics. He watched the senior technicians closely, and soon, he worked like a pro.
Scene 15: Only Theory (Age 20)
Because of that, he saw how a business really runs, and he wanted one of his own. So he enrolled in an IT degree. But it was theory, after theory, after theory. So he walked away.
Scene 16: The Failed Launch (Age 21)
He opened his own service business. And it failed. His technical skills were strong. His business and marketing skills were not. Not yet.
Scene 17: Learning How Business Works (Age 23)
So he turned to the one thing that had never failed him. Curiosity. At a UK-based company, he watched every person work together toward one goal, and learned the secrets of marketing research. But without a degree, his ideas would never be heard.
Scene 18: Takeoff (Age 24)
Until finally, he made his boldest decision yet. He left the company and packed his passport, his acceptance letter, and the old cassette player.
Scene 19: High in the Sky (Age 24)
And as the plane climbed high above the Himalayas, the boy who once took a cassette player apart set off to learn how to build something bigger. A business.
Scene 20: The Tinkerer (Today)
Ever since then, he has never stopped asking how things work. Only now, the question is bigger. This is the story of the Tinkerer. And it is only just beginning.
The real Tinkerer
To be continued
“I learned how things are built by breaking them. Now I'm learning how businesses are built, so I can build both.”
Sujan Pokharel