‘People called my father a witch doctor’

What began as one birth, suddenly led to two others. “‘100 Promises To My Baby’ started out as my personal scribblings while I was pregnant with my first daughter, Tara.
It was a collection of stories, musings and thoughts that I wanted to pass on to her. I shared these stories with a friend of mine, who was a literary agent, and she recommended we package them into a book proposal,” recalls Mallika Chopra.

“Before I knew it, I had a book contract. The next week I discovered I was pregnant again! So, I wrote the book while Tara was two-and-a-half and Leela was in utero.”

A motherhood must-read, ask Mallika which promise she considers the most important and she says, “The first promise - ‘I promise to always remember you are my gift from God’.

With the craziness, and often stressful moments of motherhood, we can forget what a miracle it is for us to behold our children.”

Inspired by ‘people who have a passion for life, a vision for something greater’, Mallika knows that no interview would be complete without an insight into her famous dad, spiritual guru Deepak Chopra.

“People always want to know what it is like being ‘Deepak Chopra’s daughter’. The reality was the he was just my father and I did not think it was so different,” she says, adding, “Gotham (her brother) and I definitely picked up the passion for writing from my father — when we were young, he would dictate his books to us and we would type for him.”

Growing up, Mallika remembers, “People called my father an ‘Indian snake oil witch doctor’ — these were the days when even yoga was considered voodoo.

But my father was always focused and undeterred, so we too learned to be self-referral through his example. We don’t take the good or the bad seriously at all.”

d_farhad@dnaindia.net