Deepak Chopra Talks Of “Happiness Formula” At Akshaya Patra Event

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Dr. Deepak Chopra, globally renowned lifestyle advisor and founder of The Chopra Center For Wellbeing, spoke at a Feb. 22, 2020 event at the Princeton Club of New York, The event was hosted by Akshaya Patra, the world’s largest NGO-run mid-day meal program feeding some 1.8 million children in 13 states in India,

Among those present were Desh Deshpande, board chairman of The Akshaya Patra Foundation USA, Vandana Tilak, CEO of TAPF USA, India’s Consul General in New York Sandeep Chakravorty, Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh, chairman of Parikh Worldwide Media and ITV Gold,

“Ninety five percent of genes are influenced by lifestyle. Ninety-five percent of chronic illness is influenced by lifestyle. And ‘happiness’ is one component,” Chopra stressed in his talk on the “Happiness Formula.”

Ten years ago, Chopra recounted his meeting with The Dalai Lama, who he described as “a very happy guy.” The Dalai Lama asked him to do research what goes into making a person happy.

The formula Chopra came up with after two years of research was H= S+C+V (Happiness= Set Point in the brain which defines your attitude to life + Condition of living + V or Voluntary Choices one makes). “The Set Point is determined unfortunately by your parents,” Chopra said, noting that if parents put out a negative view of life, one grows up an unhappy person and vice versa.

In an interview with ITV Gold at the event, Chopra said if everybody followed what Akshaya Patra was doing, the world would be a happier place.

At a Q and A discussion, Chopra also noted, “India has never invaded another country militarily. It has colonized the world through its culture.” He urged those present to “make a difference in the world” and in India and for their own happiness, by supporting the work of Akshaya Patra.

Dr. Parikh told ITV Gold, “… we had such a great program, and great speakers, –  Mr. Deshpande and Deepak Chopra. a good friend of ours for long time. And he said a very right thing – that the only happiness you get is when you help someone else.  And that is a very good tagline which I am following, and also my friend Dr. (Anand) Kulkarni,”

Dr. Kulkarni, who is the co-chair of Akshaya Patra NJ Chapter, noted how Akshaya Patra could be a source for making people happy by doing good.

Deshpande praised Dr. Chopra, and called the meeting “fantastic’ noting that it was attended by people from New York and New Jersey.

Consul General Chakravorty told ITV Gold his “preferred” charity was Akshaya Patra and described its work as that of an ‘ideal’ non-profit that aims to improve educational outcomes with its mid-day meal program.