Hope confetti in the city of joy

Acclaimed French author Dominique Lapierre is remembered with great love and fondness in Kolkata where he did much of his philanthropic work.

“May dadu (grandpa) return, I pray to God,” Mini (name changed) says. She is 13, an abandoned child with an intellectual disability. Shabana (name changed), 15, has applied lipstick as the occasion is for remembering dadu. At Asha Bhavan Centre (ABC), located 40 km away from Kolkata in Uluberia, children with disabilities, and elders, have congregated to remember Dominique Lapierre, the French author, revered for his humanitarian efforts. Lapierre passed away on December 4 in France.

“My mother knew him well. While this centre was founded in 1999, she had been associated with Dominique dada for 40 years, from the time his book ‘City of Joy’ was being written,” says John Mary Barui, director of the centre.

“I have seen him since childhood. He visited us at least once every year, or even twice sometimes. He observed our work and loved interacting with children. The smiling faces, he used to say, inspired him to work harder for raising funds. Mrs Lapierre accompanied him, usually, during all visits. The last time he visited us was in 2011,” recalls Barui, adding that the financial support from the Lapierres had continued till 2015. Much has changed since Lapierre first visited Calcutta (renamed Kolkata in 2001) in the 1980s. The plot and characters of his famous novel, City of Joy (La Cité de la Joie), later adapted into a film, trace their inspiration to the Pilkhana area in Howrah, adjoining Kolkata.

“Dominique Lapierre had visited Pilkhana. Seeing the place, he wanted to do something and started writing a book. When the book was released, he came to my house and offered me an autographed copy,” recalls Reginald John, administrative officer, Seva Sangh Samiti. The Samiti had its beginnings in the late 1960s when Father Francis (François) Laborde, a French priest, brought locals together to improve people’s lives in the locality’s slums. John is 69 years old. He shows an old photograph of him taken with the author.

Did the book reflect reality? John says he hasn’t read the book entirely. “I cannot comment about his charity, as I have never worked with him. He was a friend, and we had written to each other. I will remember him as a friend,” he adds.

After the book’s release, Lapierre wanted to donate his earnings and looked for organisations through which he could help the slum dwellers in Pilkhana, and elsewhere. Kathryn Spink, the translator of ‘City of Joy’ (from French into English) and a trustee of the charity he established in England says the author fell in love with India while researching for ‘Freedom At Midnight’ along with Larry Collins. Kathryn recalls that it was Mother Teresa who guided him to Udayan, a home for the children of lepers in Barrackpore when Dominique wanted to donate a portion of the royalties from ‘Freedom At Midnight’. Among the many remarkable people working amongst the poorest of the poor in and around Calcutta (as it still was then) was a priest living amongst the slum dwellers as one of them. He became the primary inspiration for one of the central characters in the book ‘City of Joy’, the English language version of which was first published in 1985, she narrates.

A friend of humanity

One person who was instrumental in connecting Lapierre with charity efforts in Bengal was Brother Gaston Dayanand. He is now 86 and lives at the Interreligious Centre of Development — a residence for destitutes he had initiated in 2004, in Howrah district’s Madhabpur, around 54 km from Kolkata.

Lapierre wanted to write a book for the poor, for which Brother Gaston was initially hesitant to help. “One day he came with his wife in the time of monsoon. There was water up to the belly. There was no rickshaw at this time, and he came like that. I said, okay, I will help you,” he says.

After the book got published, Lapierre wanted to help organisations working for social causes, and Brother Gaston connected him to the people active in the field. Over the years, Gaston saw author Lapierre as a changed man. “First he trusted me… then he trusted people I asked him to help. Then he became a brother to every NGO that had been founded before he came, and then some others started with his help,” Gaston said, adding that he extended help to several organisations.

To 30 of the 48 inhabited islands in Sundarbans, four ‘boat hospitals’ each equipped with technicians, including a doctor, offer services to around 400 people daily. The boats take a full circle every six days, anchoring routinely at these islands, says M A Wohab, director, Southern Health Improvement Samity (SHIS), the organisation behind this innovative service.

“Dominique Lapierre had come with Brother Gaston, and didi (Mrs Lapierre). From 1987 onwards he started supporting us. Financially, it was around Rs two crore annually on average. Donors usually have their own agenda. This man’s agenda was humanity. He didn’t work for any religion, never questioned, never said no,” says Wohab.

Some social organisations completely dependent on the Lapierres didn’t stay active once funding ceased, he said. Lapierre’s donation formed a part of the SHIS budget, and funded medicine, honorarium for health workers, education efforts, aid in times of natural calamities, and the boat dispensaries. Lapierres’ visits always drew thousands of people. “They used to come just to see him and listen to him speaking for a few minutes. He was in people’s hearts,” said Wohab.

On the northern fringes of Kolkata in Barrackpore, 270 children reside at Udayan. A few of these children are themselves leprosy-affected, says Dipak Prakash Sahu, director, Udayan. Father James Stevens started the centre in 1970 with 11 children. “Lapierre supported Udayan for 30 years,” said Sahu. “Hanso babu hanso (laugh, child, laugh!), he used to tell children. Children performed dances, sang, and played musical instruments during his visits. He was French but with children, a different language worked. He did change lives. I come from a poor family, and I can observe the difference between my immediate relatives and myself,” says Swapan Kumar Naiya, one of the 11 children with whom Udayan began.

At Howrah South Point, across the Hooghly river, an organisation set up by Father Laborde in 1976, Father Laurent Bissara, who succeeded Laborde, recalls how the book City of Joy influenced his mind before he opted for the priesthood. “The part played by Lapierre is huge. I called Dominique didi later and thanked her for the book as it gave me a love for Calcutta before I knew the city,” he said. The Lapierres supported South Point – which runs homes, creches, schools, and other amenities to support challenged children.

Lapierre’s book on the city, and subsequent film adaptation, had drawn differing responses. The humanitarian efforts – of dada and didi, however, made living better for numerous people over the decades. “All people who lived and died in peace, it’s a change. Nobody cares whether the poor die on the street, or in peace, it is the same for them. For us, it’s a big change,” says a social worker who had observed the Lapierres working with dedication.