Durban inspiration for Deepak Chopra talk
A FORMER young Durban woman who is now married and practising medicine in California, United States, became the reference point when Deepak Chopra, iconic alternative medicine guru and motivator, addressed a graduating class.
Speaking at the 2017 USC Baccalaureate Ceremony at the University of Southern California (USC) last Friday (May 12), Chopra said Shakti Soni, wife of Dr Varun Soni who is the dean of Religious Life at the university, and who was in the audience as a guest, hailed from Durban.
The baccalaureate ceremony serves as a non-denominational celebration for the graduates and their friends and families. The ceremony is interfaith, but the graduates receive a blessing to commemorate their success as they embark on the next chapter of their lives.
Chopra said while preparing for his address, he remembered how more than 50 years ago his mother would sing stories of the Mahabharat and Ramayan to her children.
At a pivotal point, she would leave the story hanging and ask them to complete the story with a good ending which ensured “the demons are vanquished and the heroes would win”.
“So very early in my life, I realised that every problem has a creative solution because of my mother’s great story-telling.
“My mother also said you can have anything you want when you grow up provided that you are committed to something bigger than yourself.
“Two years ago I was in Durban where Varun’s wife Shakti grew up. Strangely enough while I was there, I got a call from Mahatma Gandhi’s granddaughter, Ela Gandhi.”
Chopra said Ela took him to visit Phoenix Settlement where Gandhi had spent much of his time.
He recounted that Gandhi spent almost 22 years in South Africa as a lawyer and started his career fighting for indigent indentured labourers and initiating the civil rights movement in South Africa.
“Near Gandhi’s house was where John Dube lived and who was eventually to become president of ANC which liberated South Africa.
“THERE was a close friendship between the two men. Later Gandhi went to India and started the Indian National Congress and helped to liberate India from British colonialism in a peaceful manner.
“Martin Luther King Jnr. read Gandhi’s biography and started the American civil rights movement.
“And King’s biography was read by Nelson Mandela who liberated South Africa.”
Chopra told the students that after Mandela cast his vote for a democratic South Africa at Inanda in 1994, the great statesman went to Dube’s graveside and said: “Mr President I have come to report to you that South Africa is free today.”
“And Nelson Mandela was the inspiration for (Barrack) Obama, our former president.
Chopra said we are all shaped by stories – stories of great heroes of mythology and religion.
“It is these great stories that have inspired humankind otherwise we will not be here today,” he said.
Johnson Naidoo of Durban said Chopra’s speech was “most inspirational” and it was heart-warming that Durban, and his daughter Shakti, got a mention.
Chopra, a pioneer in bridging ancient healing wisdom with modern science, has written over 85 books, 24 of which have made the New York Times best seller list.
His world-renowned book, Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old, was one of the first to analyse the ability humans have to retain creativity, memory, self-esteem and physical strength despite the passage of time.