Dr. Dixit shares his views with PRATIMA GYAWALI. Excerpts:

Of all the things you have learnt from your parents which do you feel was the most valuable?
Of course I have learned a lot of things from my parents. I learnt that education was very important from my very initial days.  I have learnt to become the person I want to be without being held back. I have learned to always love and respect everyone. I have also learned that family always comes first and to always help others whenever you can.

Who had the greatest influence on you during your childhood days?
In my childhood days the influence went beyond my parents. In those days everyone knew every other person in the area. We lived as a community not as individual families. The social bondage beat, the “tole”, as we called it, was a lot stronger. Now we do not communicate or know who lives the next door. The population density and the professional aspects of life have made time very valuable. In my early years everyone seemed to have all the time in the world. In those days as we lived in big communities and the collectiveness of the neighborhood existed. My father had the most influence in me. Although he never forced me to study medicine and if I had not studied medicine I most probably would have been a writer.

What suggestions do you have for the youth of today?
The way I was brought up I cannot overemphasize on the importance of education yet once again as I have said throughout the time we have talked this evening. However, I would like to also mention that not only book knowledge, the knowledge has to be practical as well. It is important now that you excel in many sectors and have a more diverse knowledge base. With the availability of the internet and the tremendous development in mass media, information is available for anyone to keep updated in disciplines of interest. I also would like to emphasize on the importance of reading. I do not think the youth today read enough despite the fact that the access to reading materials have drastically increased. Lastly, education, hard work, honesty and proper communication are all equally important.