"I had to watch Dharahara from a distance and couldn´t go near. I decided to one day make a building taller than Dharahara and started a dish-washing job at a hotel (eatery) in Kathmandu," Gyawali, now 41, reminisces his first step to regaining dignity. [break]
Gyawali now has a remarkable rags-to-riches story to tell and has already erected six stories, apart from the underground basement, of his 10-storied dream project in Rampur.
He has employed 45 persons on payroll for construction of the view-tower and being dragged off a bus for failing to pay fare is a thing of past with a Mahindra Bolero and a swanky Toyota Corolla at his disposal.
Early struggle
"I had left house after my parents refused to finance my studies when I failed in the third grade. I had Rs 20, saved from petty jobs, in my pocket and reached Arunkhola of Nawalparasi walking eight hours in the jungle," he recalls.
He did not want to lose the hard-earned money and devised a strategy to reach Kathmandu without spending a penny. "I would board a bus and would say I don´t have money when the conductor asked for fare. He would have me out of the bus and I would again board another bus and so on," he reveals.
He finally reached Kathmandu in six days but had to face the humiliation at Dharahara just a couple of hundred meters away from the bus terminal. He reached Lhasa (China) after three months of dish-washing and earned Rs 15,000 after working for 11 months there.
"I returned and got admitted at Saraswati Lower Secondary School in my village (Rampur) with my money and completed secondary education from Janata Secondary School in Tansen," he says.
His parents had passed away and the fourth son among five sons and seven daughters now really had the dream project up to himself. He had also bought a camera from Lhasa and he started making money by clicking photos of his friends.
He stopped studying after passing the School Leaving Certificate (SLC) and plunged into business to pursue his dream.
He tried his luck in many things before the goddess of wealth [Laxmi] finally got pleased with her namesake after he started taking contracts for construction of houses, wells and water pumps. In the meantime, he married another Laxmi and now has three daughters and a son from her."There are 103 water pumps constructed by me currently being used in Rampur," he proudly states. He also tried yarchagumba trade but his dream really took wings through real estate business.
"Real estate trade made me a millionaire and I have now earned the right to own a Dharahara by selling lands in Rampur and Nawalparasi district," he claims.
His family lives in the ground floor of his under-construction view tower that he himself has designed. He says he has already spent more than Rs 30 million on the tower that will also have a three-tier underground parking.
"Building is my passion. I watch Discovery channel on television and try to memorize what I see there," Gyawali, who doesn´t understand English, tells about his designing inspiration.
Philanthropic leanings
Having had a humble beginning, he has not forgotten his roots and is now making contribution to society that made him a millionaire. "I have contributed nearly five millions rupees in construction of roads, bridges, schools and clubs," he claims.
He has contributed Rs 2.5 million for construction of a 26-km road connecting Arunkhola, Nawalparasi through Mityal of Palpa. "I want to one day travel through the road that I once walked with teary eyes on my car," he says.
He has a simple formula for earning money. "There is a method in business. You can buy a tin of clay for Rs 10 and sell it for Rs 20 to earn Rs 10. If you make bricks out of the clay, you can earn Rs 20. If you make flower-pots, you can earn up to Rs 200 and even Rs 5,000 if you make a statue out of the clay," he explains.
"I have employed the same method in my business and have finally been able to construct a Dharahara," he adds.
He may have been denied a visit to the original Dharahara years ago but he takes pleasure in showing around his view tower to around 50 visitors every day.
Having himself fashioned a miracle, he is open to all possibilities. He plans to make the top four stories of the tower removable just in case his Dharahara may obstruct landing of planes at a future airport in Rampur.
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