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Kanak Mani Dixit’s speech at the The Prince Claus Award ceremony at the Patan Museum, 23 February 2010 :

[audio:http://himalmag.com/blogs/files/2010/02/Kanak-Mani-Dixit-speech.mp3|titles=Kanak Mani Dixit speech]

Audio from the Ceremony’s musical program by Madan Gopal Singh and his troupe — Deepak Castelino, Pritam Ghosal and Gurmeet Singh featuring Shyam Nepali on the Sarangi :

[audio:http://himalmag.com/blogs/files/2010/02/Madan-Gopal-Singh-Troupe1.mp3|titles=Madan Gopal Singh Troupe]

Afsan Chowdhury writes a tribute to Himal Southasian editor Kanak Mani Dixit on the occasion of the Prince Claus Award. Audio of Mr. Dixit’s speech and a selection from the music program from the award follows the text.

An appreciation  by Afsan  Chowdhury on the occasion of Prince Claus Award:

There are many people who dream but few can turn dreams into action. Kanak Mani Dixit is one of those very few whose dreams are endless and whose actualisations are many – a man whose actions have impacted far beyond his own native land and influenced the way many think about South Asia, its people and their historical purpose.

Kanak’s core background is journalism, and his success in this chosen field is above question. Steering the Himal publication, he has set editing and publishing standards for entire South Asia, in content planning, editing perspectives, and magazine design and graphics as well. Kanak has demonstrated that South Asian focal points don’t have to be located in the big countries of the region but can be anywhere that an idea is alive and can be nurtured. In doing so, he has also showcased what Nepal can do and made it look shinier than ever before.

In Nepal Kanak Dixit is known for the many activities that he pursues that express his multiplicity of interests and spirit of excellence. It’s this track record of success in so many diverse fields that makes him so special. He manages a string of media outfits with the same interest and love that he runs his restaurant. His Film South Asia is now an international event. It has given South Asia a global profile and has made people from all over not only enjoy but celebrate documentaries as an evolving form of information art. And Kanak Dixit gave birth to this institution with almost no resources save his energy, imagination and organising skill.

People often speak about his zest for living – he seems to be having fun in an unthrown but never ending party called life. That is true, but he has also taken the stones on his back and has the lumps to prove it. For decades he has been one of the leading human rights activists of Nepal and, during the uprising against the Nepalese monarchy, his non-violent protest landed him in jail several times, while his criticism of extremist violence made him a target of the Maoists as well. Kanak Dixit brings to the socio-political space the objective of sup porting civil liberty and justice against all odds and in all conditions. His willing ness to follow the unpopular path often draws criticism but ultimately vindicates the legitimacy of legality, constitutionality and rule of law in public life in any society. In a region where it’s almost taken for granted that such values are ‘politically unaffordable’, he has battled for them ceaselessly.

His interest in increasing the horizons of civil society activities has gone on and on. Kanak has invested time and resources to revive ancient forms of painting, resurrected horse stables to turn them into lecture halls, preserved archival documents, organised international seminars and events, and introduced Nepal to the rest of the world like few have before him. And there are so many more actions and achievements in that list. Kanak Dixit has even fallen off the mountain but instead of killing him, it motivated him to devote his energy to setting up the spinal treatment centre in Kathmandu that serves hundreds who suffer from injuries like he once did.

All these parts can’t sum up the total person that Kanak Dixit is or will be as he walks into his future. He is a sum of many entrepreneurs and individuals, visionaries and activists, organisers and connoisseurs, ensuring that the past and present of Nepal is accessible to all and cherished by all.

But Kanak Dixit’s outstanding achievement may be in his just and humane vision of a regional identity that doesn’t ignore the political states that make up South Asia. It focuses on the socio-cultural identity that holds more than a billion people together. This has been asserted most actively in his writings, lectures, media products and events promoting South Asia. By creating a space where writers and intellectuals from the region and elsewhere can meet on the common pages of a common vision, he has shown everyone a glimpse of a brave new region, where every citizen enjoys the respect of others and a sense of dignity. That is his greatest triumph.

Kanak Dixit’s most famous literary creation is a frog called Bhaktaprasad Bhyaguto, who traveled all over Nepal and learnt about his homeland in an enchanting and entertaining manner. In a way Kanak Dixit is the wise frog of Nepal, who has set out to bring not just Nepal to the Nepalese but South Asia to the South Asians. There can be no nobler venture than this and few can carry out this difficult but wonderful task better than the person honoured today with this Prince Claus Award.