COVER STORY

A Storyteller Who Heals

Mallika Chopra’s new children’s book offers the beauty of diversity and perspective

By Marin Heinritz

“Buddha and the Rose,” Mallika Chopra’s latest book begins—as well as ends—with an image of Buddha sitting still with a rose in his hand. But what happens in between the approximately 30 illustrated pages and less than 500-word book is a powerful journey about mindfulness, the beauty of the natural world, and how a little girl comes to understand herself as a part of something larger. Based on one of her dad’s favorite stories plucked out of many, Chopra says the tale “in a very subtle and innocent way shows a connection to the universe.” Chopra grew up with wonderful stories from both her parents who “come from a country and tradition with rich storytelling.” Her father is Deepak Chopra, the Indian-American physician, author and world-renowned speaker on mind-body healing and alternative medicine. Chopra sees herself as carrying on the tradition in her own way from a family of healers, much of which is rooted in storytelling. “From the times of my grandparents and parents, my houses were full of storytelling, religious or mythological stories across all traditions: Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Native American,” she said. “In general all of these stories have been adapted over centuries.” Chopra therefore easily took the liberty of adapting “Buddha and the Rose” as a children’s book with an eye toward inclusive representation. “It’s really quite simple, but I think we need more stories for children that show a diverse world view and characters,” she said. “I made this decision to make the narrator Sujata, an Indian girl—from her perspective—historically the young woman who gave Buddha the Westside resident Mallika Chopra recently published her fifth children’s book, “Buddha and the Rose,” which is a powerful journey about mindfulness, the beauty of the natural world, and how a little girl comes to understand herself as a part of something larger

milk to break his fast." According to Chopra, in so many of the ancient tales, including Buddhist ones, “There aren’t many women in any of these traditions and I wanted to make sure young girls felt included.” Chopra also made a deliberate decision to work with an illustrator who is a woman from Southeast Asia. It was her first time working with Neha Rawat, and so much of the success of the story is in Rawat’s beautiful illustrations. “The artist is the one who brought it to life,” Chopra said. “Just for someone to be able to look at these images creates a whole different experience.” “Buddha and the Rose” is Chopra’s fifth children’s book and eighth book overall, and though there’s a similarity in appearance to her previous children’s books, this one is something of a departure from the others. Her “Just Be” trilogy, which consists of “Just Breathe," "Just Feel,” and “Just Be You,” as well as “My Body Is a Rainbow,” aim to deliberately teach techniques about breathing, meditation and mindfulness. “For this one it’s just a really beautiful story,” Chopra said. “My goal with this one is we’ve been living in such heavy times. I do think my other books are great at giving techniques, I just wanted to give space for joy and wonder.

This story is about wonder, that ‘aha’ moment.” While her other children’s books teach techniques, “The Buddha and the Rose” offers the reader an insight into the experience of meditation. Telling stories and sharing personal experiences is at the heart of Chopra’s work in the world. In addition to her children’s books, she has written three books rooted in her experiences as a mother including, “Living with Intent: My Somewhat Messy Journey to Purpose, Peace, and Joy,” through which she shares how she discovered balance despite the overwhelm of too many responsibilities as a wife, mother and entrepreneur. “If I share my stories and share my struggles, I find that helps one give permission to other people to recognize it’s a challenge to find balance and purpose and your own path to healing,” Chopra said. “I feel really lucky to share things that have had impact for me and hopefully they will affect others. A tool that has helped her and others is living by the following guiding questions: Who am I? What do I want? How can I serve? What am I grateful for? Chopra openly acknowledges the privileges she’s enjoyed on her journey, and that she has much to be grateful for, not the least of which is living and raising a family in Santa Monica. “We truly live in this bubble on the Westside and we very much recognize that the children have grown up in a very safe a sweet little bubble and we feel grateful for that,” she said. “Everyone in our family is well-read and well-traveled, and we really try to understand different perspectives.” And sharing those different perspectives through storytelling is a significant part of Chopra’s purpose. “We come from a family of doctors and we’re trained in terms of being healers in some form or fashion,” Chopra said. “Storytelling is 100% healing.”

Mallika Chopra

mallikachopra.com Instagram: @mallikachopra The 30-page book is based on one of Chopra’s father’s favorite stories and features stunning illustrations by Southeast Asian artist Neha Rawat.