My day started badly, when I discovered that my kettle was not working. I think I knew the problem: that I had inadvertently switched it on when it was empty. Normally, this would have meant throwing it in the bin, and buying another, but on a previous walk into Dhangadhi, I had come across a number of small electrical shops with people working inside them, fixing things, so I thought it was at least worth a walk.
The road works in that part of town are still ongoing – it is a major civil engineering project, so to get to the shop, perched up high above the muddy track along which motor-bikes, tuk-tuks, the occasional car were still travelling, I had to scramble up a steep bank. But when I opened my bag to show the man inside the shop – not that much bigger than a cupboard really – my kettle, along with the electric plinth on which it stood, rather than shake his head in knowing refusal, as I had thought he might, he took it from me and set to work. He didn’t need much more than a screwdriver with a magnetic tip, immediately unscrewing… well, everything that there was to unscrew. He tested each part, with a pair of wires emerging from a lead, attached to a light bulb, eliminating each part of the two components in turn. The plinth was fine, the base of the kettle seemed fine, and apparently it all came down to the switch. Or maybe he was just unscrewing every bit to do a proper job.
He confirmed my original diagnosis – “No water” – and I explained that it had been switched on accidentally – “Accident” – at which he shook his head sadly. I think he replaced one small part, and then set to work screwing it all back together again, demonstrating to me that the little red light now showed it was working. About twenty minutes maybe, and 200 NR, or just over a pound. Not just a bargain, but saving the planet from one more piece of landfill. In England, I understand we are starting to try to repair things, rather than just throw them away, at least in part due to the popularity of “The Repair Shop” TV programme, and the emergence of Repair Cafes, but I understand these are mostly staffed by enthusiastic amateurs, the financial aspect of paying some one a decent amount for their time not adding up. Here, of course, it is part of the economy. Good, either way.
