Deepak Chopra

Born On: 22nd October, 1946
Born In: New Delhi, India
Career: Writer, Physician and Public Spokesman
Nationality: American

Deepak Chopra is a renowned global personality who was born in India and later on immigrated to America. Along with being a physician, he is a writer, who writes on Ayurveda and spirituality. He is also the founder of Chopra Foundation and is a public speaker. He has penned more than fifty-seven books and up until now his books have been published in around thirty-five different languages. Deepak Chopra has been announced by the Time magazine as one of the top hundred heroes and icons of the country and was praised as the 'poet-prophet of alternative medicine'. It was in 2010, when he issued the criticism of the book 'The Grand Design' written by Stephen Hawking. Moreover, he has been a good friend of Michael Jackson.

Early Life
Deepak Chopra was born on 22nd October, 1946 in New Delhi, India. He was born to Dr. K. L. Chopra and Pushpa Chopra. His father was a famous cardiologist and was also the head of the Medicine and Cardiology Department for around twenty five years at the Mool Chand Khairati Hospital, New Delhi. Along with this, he was also Lieutenant in the British Army. As a kid, Deepak Chopra wanted to become a journalist or an actor but was more inspired to become a doctor seeing a character in the novel 'Arrowsmith' by the American author and play writer Sinclair Lewis. He finished his primary education at St. Columbia School, New Delhi and pursued his graduation from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). After this, he married Rita Chopra and went to United States of America in 1968. He has two children named Mallika and Gotham.

Career
Deepak Chopra started his medical training at Muhlenberg Hospital, Plainfield in New Jersey and did a term of residency from the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts, and at the University of Virginia Hospital. He is certified in internal medicine and has specialization in Endocrinology. He delivered lectures at the Tufts University and Boston University School of Medicine. Later on, he became the Head of Staff at the New England Memorial Hospital in Stoneham, Massachusetts which was later called the Regional Medical Center. In 1981, Mr. Chopra met Dr. Vaidya Brihaspati Dev Triguna, a specialist of Ayurveda medicine. After this meeting, Deepak Chopra also took part in a Transcendental Meditation Campaign and in 1985 met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, as he was invited to India to learn Ayurveda. This was when he resigned from his position at the New England Memorial Hospital and became the founder President of the American Association of Ayurveda medicine.

In 1992, he worked for the National Institute of Health Ad Hoc Panel on Alternative Medicine. It was in 1993, when he became the executive director of the Sharp Institute for Human Potential and Mind-Body Medicine and he with his family went to live in Southern California. In 1994, he left the Transcendental Meditation Campaign as he was blamed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi of wanting to take his position as Guru. It was in 1996, when Deepak Chopra was separated from the Sharp Institute and he with David Simon, the neurologist, M.D. established the Chopra Center for Wellbeing in La Jolla, California which mainly laid emphasis on Ayurveda medicine. For some of the courses offered by the Chopra Center, the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine and American Medical Association permitted ongoing medical education acknowledgments. In 2002, the Chopra Center was moved to the lands of La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California. In 2004, Deepak Chopra received the California Medical Certification. In 2005, he became a Senior Scientist with The Gallup Organization. In 2006, he started Virgin Comics LLC together with his son Gotham Chopra and entrepreneur Richard Branson. The main motive of this company was to spread harmony and awareness about the ancient Kabalistic characters and stories with the help of comics and trading cards. He with Menas Kafatos and Rudolph E.Tanzi issued a paper in the Journal of Cosmology with the heading 'How Consciousness Becomes the Physical Universe'.

In 2009, he inaugurated the Chopra Foundation with a goal to progress the cause of mind/body spiritual healing, education and research through maximum funds for particular projects. It was in 2010, when the Chopra Foundation supported the First Sages and Scientists Symposium with popular philosophers, scientists and artists from all around the globe and in February 2011, the Chopra Foundation sponsored the Second Sages and Scientists Symposium. Now a days, Deepak Chopra interviews famous scientists and leaders who work for the improvement of the ability of human beings, in a weekly radio show of Sirius XM. Apart from this, he is also a weekly columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and Washington Post on Faith. In June 2011, he wrote for the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics under the title 'Medicine's Great Divide - The View from the Alternative Side'. At present, he is a fellow of the American College of Physics, Adjunct Professor at Kellogg School of Management, and a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists.

Awards and Accolades
In 1989, Deepak Chopra was honored with the title of 'Dhanvantari' (God of Immortality) by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In 1995, he was the receiver of Toastmasters' 'International Top Five Outstanding Speakers' award and in 1997, he received the Golden Gavel Award from Toastmasters. He was given the Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Republic by the Pio Manzu International Scientific Committee and was represented as 'one of the most lucid and inspired philosophers of that time' by the Chairman and former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev. He was nominated as one of the 'top ten motivational speakers in the country' by Esquire magazine. In the year 2006, the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations honored Mr. Chopra with Ellis Island Medal of Honor and in 2009, he was given the Oceana Award. It was in 2010, when he was honored with the Cinequest Life of a Maverick award for his alliances with filmmaker, Shekhar Kapoor. He was given the Humanitarian Starlite Award (2010) for the 'global force of human empowerment, well-being and for bringing light to the world'. In the same year he was honored with GOI Peace Award. His book, 'Peace Is the Way' received the Quill Awards and 'The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Life' got the Nautilus Award.

Contribution
Deepak Chopra played a very important role in taking the Ayurveda treatment and medicines to an international level. He is the one who provided Ayurveda medicines and treatments for healing and for the peace of mind and body. He earned name and fame with the publication of his bestselling spiritual books Ageless Body, Timeless Mind (1993) and The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success (1995).Some of his other books are Grow Younger, Live Longer (2001), Life After Death: The Burden of Proof (2006), and Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment (2007). Deepak Chopra has been a part of the Cancer documentary drama of UniGlobe Entertainment which is about the spirit, mind, body and the secret of life and death. This documentary is made under the direction of the actress Namrata Singh Gujral.

Timeline
1946: Born in New Delhi.
1968: Went to the United States of America.
1981: Met Dr. Vaidya Brihaspati Dev Triguna, and joined the Transcendental Meditation Campaign.
1985: Met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and learnt about Ayurveda.
1989: Honored with the title of 'Dhanvantari'.
1992: Worked for the National Institutes of Health Ad Hoc Panel on Alternative Medicine.
1993: Became the executive director of the Sharp Institute for Human Potential and Mind - Body Medicine and wrote the book 'Timeless Mind'.
1994: Left the Transcendental Meditation Campaign.
1995: Received the 'International Top Five Outstanding Speakers' award of the Toastmasters and published the book 'The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success'.
1996: Separated from the Sharp Institute and founded the Chopra Center for Wellbeing in La Jolla, California with David Simon, the neurologist.
1997: Received the Golden Gavel Award from Toastmasters.
2001: Published the book 'Live Longer'.
2002: The Chopra center was moved to the lands of La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California.
2004: Received the California Medical Certification.
2005: Became a Senior Scientist with the Gallup Organization.
2006: Started Virgin Comics LLC together with his son Gotham Chopra and Richard Branson, the entrepreneur and was honored with Ellis Island Medal of Honor by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations and wrote the book 'The Burden of Proof'.
2007: Penned the book 'Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment'.
2009: Received the Oceana Award.
2010: Honored with the Cinequest Life of a Maverick Award; the Humanitarian Starlite Award and GOI Peace Award.
2011: Wrote for the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics under the title 'Medicine's Great Divide - The View from the Alternative Side'.