Kanak Mani Dixit, and his team of journalists, have played a pioneering role in Nepal for over a decade through their magazine Himal South Asian. On April 8, this gentle man with a sly sense of humor was abruptly tossed in jail. About 200 other Nepalese journalists also have been rounded up in the last two weeks.
Dixit is the editor of Himal, Himal Southasian and the fortnightly news magazine Himal Khabarpatrika, all published from Kathmandu. He contributed an interesting essay to Foreign Policy In Focus.
The latest issue of Himal South Asian says: “Himal Southasian magazine happens to be based in Kathmandu, from where with increasing horror we have watched the evolution of the Maoist insurgency in Nepal – and in the latest instance, the palace activism in particular following the royal takeover of 1 February 2005.
“Looking out over the Southasian landscape, we realise that a country that had made relatively good progress as a democracy following the People’s Movement of 1990 is being forced backwards in time, by rebel and royalty alike.
“In the cover feature of this issue, we have charted the course of both of these forms of extremism, scrutinising the continuing warfare and sudden democratic deficit in the country where we happen to be based. We also believe that editors and reporters must stand up as citizens when a society’s most basic values are under threat.”
Edited and published by Kanak Mani Dixit from May 1987 onwards, Himal was an English language monthly on the Himalayas with a particular focus on development and the environment. While this important magazine eventually grew into Himal South Asian, which maintains its own extensive online archives, back issues of Himal were increasingly hard to come by. The Digital Himalaya project continues to work collaboratively with staff at the Himal Association in Kathmandu to scan and digitise back issues of this journal.
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The writer has worked as journalist with national and international media. At present he is Media Consultant with Press Institute of India, New Delhi. He is also Trainer/Mentor with BBC World Service Trust. Email: [email protected]
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.