My 2 Innings

Author: Dr Hemang Dixit

Publisher: Makalu

Publication House

Pages: 169

Price: Rs 150

Kathmandu:

My 2 Innings, a memoir of a paediatrician-cum-author Dr Hemang Dixit who writes under a pen name Mani Dixit, has some pleasant and some not so pleasant memories over the years from his life.

Dixit takes us back to the Nepal of 40’s and 50’s that is more pleasant and forth, and the stark realities of present that is not so pleasant. However, My 2 Innings is a pleasant read because it not only tells us about the author and his growing years in serene Kathmandu, but also gives us the vivid picture of the then Kathmandu, its people and practises.

The septuagenarian author, in his book, recalls his childhood and planting of a copper coin so that it will grow into a money plant one day; the then Kathmandu and the snow fall in Kathmandu, a rare phenomenon that has again occurred after 62 years on February 14 this year. He also recalls many of his friends, seniors and juniors like Pashupati SJB Rana and Ruskin Bond during his school days.

The author, who gave life to many as a practising doctor, survived a murder attempt on himself in Kathmandu, in 2006.

The readers will definitely be compelled to ask, after going through the last chapters, why were KMC — a professional organisation and its board members hunted and what was their fault. Though sad these chapters tell us a lot about our corrupt system and its ineffectiveness that is counting its last days. It should be an eye-opener for the state mechanism, if it wants to boost its citizens’ confidence.

The book also has some of the rare pictures like snow-covered lawns of Singh Durbar some 62 years back, car being brought to Kathmandu in the forties and many more.

It seems that the author in his second innings will score a century.