Moalims

SHANGLA: Although Shangla is considered regressive when it comes to education, people take the initiative to develop skills they had no means and methods of learning. Such is the case of 18-year-old Mufti Mehmood who makes toy helicopters and tanks using waste material.

“When I was seven years old, I used to make cars but later I started making helicopters and have so far made four,” Mehmood tells The Express Tribune. “I made the engines of the airplanes using the machine inside tape recorders.” Mehmood also makes tanks, but the source of his inspiration is rather upsetting. “I started making tanks after the military operation started in our area and I saw the vehicles around.”

He added he has also made planes, one of which could be flown with a remote control. “The plane was with me for two years and then crashed when I was flying it from a distance of a kilometre in Shahpur.”

Nevertheless, the tank Mehmood has made is not just a showpiece; it can even fire “missiles”. “It took me three months to make the tank and I made it with pieces of broken pens, garbage cans and adhesives.”

He demonstrated an exercise he has devised: he has set up “enemy quarters” on which the tank shoots firecrackers and then moves towards it. The remote control for the tank has been made from a clock.

Hindrances

The fact that Mehmood started making toy vehicles from the age of seven shows not just his proclivity towards invention and technical work but also his skill. However, taking his passion to a professional level, by studying in an engineering university, seems difficult for him since he belongs to a low-income family with many people to be fed.

“Mehmood is a very intelligent boy and focuses on his studies,” says Rasool Shah, the boy’s teacher. He is a student of first year at Government Higher Secondary School Koz Kana, the same school where his father works as a watchman.

Full of hope

Mehmood says he will make an original war tank if the government provides him the required material. However, he says he does not have the chance to acquire a formal education in the field.

“We have no skill development centres here as it is a backward area,” he said. “I appeal to the government to help me study in an engineering college so that I can develop my skills and serve my country.”

After toying with tanks, Mehmood’s next gadget will soar as he plans to make a fully functional airplane.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8th, 2015.