I agree, I doubt I have the skill or patience, as other forumites who care for, and treat their wood handles, and bring out the true beauty of this exquisite Neem wooded handle.
It does take patience, but not a lot of skill. Start by taping the edge of the blade and the cho, for safety.
Sand the handle, first with a grit that more or less matches the smoothness of the handle as it comes to you. That will take off any surface discoloration. I've found that sometimes neem wood holds a grayish powder, probably residue from the polishing process at the shop. It tends to obscure the beautiful grain of the wood, which will really pop after a proper polishing.
Then sand in steps, working your way up the levels of grit, depending on what sandpaper you have available. I usually go 220-400-600-1200-2000. It's not as much work as you might think, especially for an M43 with no center ring to get in the way. The higher grit steps go faster because you aren't taking off much material.
After 2000 grit, you can go to various powders, again depending on what's available. I like to use rottenstone, mainly because I have a big bag of the stuff that will probably last me another ten years. Rottenstone is around 8000 grit, but as you use it the particles break down into smaller particles, so there's no exact number.
Lastly you can rub in multiple layers of fine tung oil (either the pure stuff or one of the finishing mixtures that are readily available), rubbing hard between coats. This can be done while watching tv, or watching the sunset, or whatever you like to watch. The idea is not to apply one thick coat, but many ultra thin coats, and blend them together with the rubbing. An old rule of thumb is to rub in one coat per day for a week, then one coat a week for a month, then one coat a month for a year. As I said, patience is necessary, but of course you can stop any time you decide that enough is enough.
Some people think that an ultra-polished handle is slippery to grip. I have not found that to be true, but in any case this sort of handle work is not intended for a "user" blade, but for something that you consider a work of art and will use occasionally or not at all.
By the way, you don't have to worry about sanding over the pins. They are soft aluminum and will sand down along with the wood, and you are not taking off enough material to affect their integrity or appearance.
My first neem wood handle looked like nothing special to start with, even though it was smooth. It was a dull grayish color with no visible grain. After going through the above process it looked like polished brass, the grain was beautiful and even the color changed to a glowing brown with orange streaks.
