Ashok Chopra was born in Shimla, capital of
the state of Himachal Pradesh. Son of
the well-known painter B. R. Chopra, he studied at St. Edward’s School and then
did his under-graduation from S.
D. Bhargava
College. In 1971, he
obtained a diploma in Mass Communication and Journalism from the Panjab University
in Chandigarh after which he worked with the
theatre historian Balwant Gargi, for a
year, at the Department of Indian Theatre in Chandigarh before switching full-time to
journalism.
Chopra began his journalistic career in 1973 as a sub-editor with The Tribune in Chandigarh. In June 1975, he joined the Indian Express group as its Himachal Pradesh correspondent based in Shimla. He left journalism for book publishing in April 1978.
Over the years Chopra kept a foot in both camps writing book reviews, features and opinion pieces regularly for India Today, The Times of India and Indian Express as also some Western newspapers and journals.
In December 1984, he started a fortnightly column for The Telegraph of Calcutta that covered news and reviews of books, authors, writers, poets, as well as international book fairs. Later, it was syndicated to a dozen newspapers in the country.
During the course of his publishing career, he has published an illustrious list comprising some of the biggest and most distinguished authors including Louise Hay, Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, Deepak Chopra, Dr Wayne Dyer, Doreen Virtue, Dr Brian Weiss, Robin Sharma, Sylvia Brown, Wilbur Smith, Patrick French, Christopher Krammer, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Rajiv Mehrotra, Nani A. Palkhivala, Fali S. Nariman, Khushwant Singh, Shobhaa Dé, Dom Moraes, Salman Khusrshid, Mani Shankar Aiyar, as also the legendary Indian actors Dilip Kumar and Anupam Kher.
Chopra has been on the Board of various well-known educational Trusts and institutions and is presently Trustee on the Sardar Bhagwant Singh Educational Trust as also on the Khushwant Singh Foundation. He is also the co-chairman and director, Khushwant Singh Literary Festival, held annually at Kasauli.
Chopra began his journalistic career in 1973 as a sub-editor with The Tribune in Chandigarh. In June 1975, he joined the Indian Express group as its Himachal Pradesh correspondent based in Shimla. He left journalism for book publishing in April 1978.
Over the years Chopra kept a foot in both camps writing book reviews, features and opinion pieces regularly for India Today, The Times of India and Indian Express as also some Western newspapers and journals.
In December 1984, he started a fortnightly column for The Telegraph of Calcutta that covered news and reviews of books, authors, writers, poets, as well as international book fairs. Later, it was syndicated to a dozen newspapers in the country.
During the course of his publishing career, he has published an illustrious list comprising some of the biggest and most distinguished authors including Louise Hay, Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, Deepak Chopra, Dr Wayne Dyer, Doreen Virtue, Dr Brian Weiss, Robin Sharma, Sylvia Brown, Wilbur Smith, Patrick French, Christopher Krammer, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Rajiv Mehrotra, Nani A. Palkhivala, Fali S. Nariman, Khushwant Singh, Shobhaa Dé, Dom Moraes, Salman Khusrshid, Mani Shankar Aiyar, as also the legendary Indian actors Dilip Kumar and Anupam Kher.
Chopra has been on the Board of various well-known educational Trusts and institutions and is presently Trustee on the Sardar Bhagwant Singh Educational Trust as also on the Khushwant Singh Foundation. He is also the co-chairman and director, Khushwant Singh Literary Festival, held annually at Kasauli.
