God & I: Dominique Lapierre

YOUR FIRST BEST-selling book was A Dollar for a Thousand Miles. What can you tell us about this work?
That book recounts one of the most formative experiences in my life. I was 21 years old at the time, and penniless. With my bride, I went for a tour around the world to gain first-hand knowledge of life's harsh realities. I learned a lot of things on that trip, and this knowledge helped me later on in my charitable activities and in my writings. I understood that one of the greatest problems in the world is poverty. When I arrived in Hiroshima five years after the tragedy, or in Seoul during the Korean War, and saw all those helpless, abandoned children, I realised I had to do something.

What is your advice for young people who want to travel?
To travel with their eyes wide open, and to do it without all those aids like credit cards, mobile phones, etc. My advice is to travel with the least amount of cash as possible, so that one is compelled to work while travelling. All young people should travel in order to understand the needs, problems and sufferings of peoples in other countries around the world. This is very important because hatred is bred by our ignorance of the culture and way of life of the other peoples around the globe, our brothers and sisters on this earth. If more Israelis could visit Palestinians, and if more Palestinians could visit Israelis, there would surely be more peace in the Middle East.

Is there any trip you never made but would like to?
Yes, to the Moon!

You have met many of the leading figures of the 20th century. Which one impressed you most?
David Ben Gurion, the founder of the modern state of Israel, but also Lord Mountbatten, who gave freedom to four hundred million people on our planet and, naturally, Mother Teresa.

And what impact has she had on you?
Mother Teresa has had an enormous influence on me. She has proved to the world that we can all do something for the poor; that we can indeed alleviate the suffering in the world. She was the one who actually sparked off the idea that these sufferings are not an inevitable destiny. She continues to be a source of great inspiration for me.

Have you met other great people recently?
My pride has been, and this I owe to India, to meet a lot of anonymous people who are as big as Mother Teresa or Mahatma Gandhi. My pride was to spend two years in a place I called the 'City of Joy', in Calcutta, where I met more heroes, more apostles, more saints than you would normally meet in an entire life. I  wrote City of Joy for the have-nots. I want to change the destiny of my characters. I share everything with the less affluent in a direct way. I make sure that a part of the money that I receive from my readers goes to the poorest of the poor. My only collaborator in these enterprises is my wife.

Fifty percent of the royalties from your books are devolved to important charitable activities in Calcutta and other poor regions of the Ganges area. What is your wife's role and importance in these activities?
She plays an integral part in organising these activities, and also in other matters. Even though, as Mother Teresa would say, they are but a drop in the ocean, we can still make a difference to millions of people. We helped 4 million people stricken with Tuberculosis; we saved from the shantytowns nine thousand children with leprosy; we dug more than five hundred wells; we have four hospital ships along the Ganges delta.

In your book Five Past Midnight in Bhopal, you talk about the greatest industrial disaster in world history. It occurred on the night of 3 December 1984. Thirty thousand people died on that night, and over two hundred thousand received severe injuries. Many are still suffering now, after 21 years. Have those responsible for the tragedy paid their debt to society? And have the victims or their relatives received any compensation?
No, and this is a scandal. That tragedy struck especially the very poor. My book has contributed to keeping the memory of that tragedy alive, lest we forget. It gives me great satisfaction to learn that my book is being used as a weapon against those who are trying to shelve the tragedy.

In your last best-seller, Is New York Burning?, you dwell on the subject of terrorism. How do you see this increasing phenomenon?
Larry Collins and I wrote this novel to denounce the very real danger of terrorism. It is a most horrifying phenomenon. The events of New York and Washington have induced us to inquire on what possibilities these people have of introducing atomic bombs into our cities. Unfortunately, I think this will be the next step that terrorism will take. We discovered a lot of disquieting things. First of all, that we are not adequately protected against this possibility, so we should really be stepping up security in this area. We are calling attention to the fact that nothing is done to counter this menace. Every day only two percent of all containers entering New York are tested. It would be a game for kids to smuggle an atomic bomb into the city.

Your books are always very successful. What is the secret to their success?
It is only due to my desire to write in as simple and straightforward a way as possible. Also, I try to offer the public many interesting stories and anecdotes, but with reliable and insightful information.

Could you describe one great turning-point in your life?
At the age of 50 I heard an inner voice which made me understand that a writer of great international success should also be a larger than life character. In other words, that it is not enough merely to bear witness to events and realities, but that one should also be a role model and inspire people to acts of charity. In that moment, in 1981, my wife and I left for Calcutta. We met Mother Teresa and started our work in favour of the poor.

Have you ever explored spirituality?
I am an action person. I am more concerned with trying to do something everyday than with meditation. I should do both, but maybe a little later. When physical strength leaves me, I will do with meditation and prayer what I can no longer do with my muscles. Many people ask me: You who love India and its poor people so much, why don't you go and take care of lepers in Calcutta? My reply is that I do not know how to do it. But I can do more important things for them than nursing their wounds. I can lecture, write and collect money to give them rehabilitation centres.

Who is God for you?
He is our Father, and His love for us is infinite. This feeling is of extraordinary importance for me.

In which moments do you feel closest to God?
When I am amongst the poor. This I learned from Mother Teresa, who had this extraordinary capacity to see Christ in the suffering, in the terminally ill, in the destitute.

What did you feel when you entered the Basilica of Saint Anthony here in Padua?
It is always an extraordinary experience for me to see the Basilica. It is one of the great temples of our planet.

What is your relationship to Saint Anthony?
He is a great friend of mine. Whenever I lose my keys, I turn to him, but also on other occasions. I always seek his protection for me and my family.

What is the difference between volunteer work and justice?
Volunteer work is one of the instruments through which we may obtain more justice in the world. So volunteer work is essential if we want to improve this world.

2005 is the year of micro-credit. You have yourself seen the positive effects of micro-credit. What is your advice to politicians in this field?
Politicians should take greater interest in the possibilities offered by micro-credit. They should direct a lot more money into this area, which really holds the keys to success for so many poor people around the world.

What can each one of us do to help our neighbour?
In Paris, New York, Rome, and all the major cities in the West, millions of people are suffering from something much worse than leprosy, or from living in the shanty towns of Calcutta, and this thing is called loneliness. Each one of us can do something great just by reaching out to someone who has never received any real compassion or love in his or her life.

Do you feel satisfied with what you are doing?
You never feel satisfied. Once a journalist asked Mother Teresa, What would you like to do now? She replied, More. I used that line in the film script I wrote on her. I'll give one example. Recently I was in Calcutta, in Udayan, a home for rescued leper children. For the last 18 years, my wife and I have financially supported it, and have rescued 9,000 children, cured them, educated them, and taught them a trade. The other day one of them came to see me and said, Dada (brother), look! It was his diploma in mechanical engineering. I said to myself that if I had done only that one thing in my life - turn him into a mechanical engineer - it would already have been a great thing.

Do you have any children?
Yes, I have a biological daughter, Alexandra, who is also a writer, and 2,000 Indian children.

Dominique Lapierre
Since his best-seller, A Dollar for a Thousand Miles, in the early 1950s, Dominique Lapierre has authored several more best-sellers, most of them written with Larry Collins, a former soldier Lapierre met in 1955.
Lapierre and Collins first teamed up in 1960 to write Is Paris Burning? which was made into a major motion picture. The pair continued their fruitful collaboration for 20 years, working together on such notable books as O Jerusalem, which recreates the birth of the state of Israel, and Freedom at Midnight, which tells the story of the end of the British Empire of India and the access to independence of India and Pakistan. Freedom was translated into 35 languages and made Lapierre an authority on Indian history. Additionally, the novel was a major inspiration for the Academy Award-winning film Ghandi.
Lapierre's solo endeavour, The City of Joy, was written in 1985. It is an epic about the population of a slum in Calcutta that Lapierre discovered after meeting the late Mother Theresa. The City of Joy has sold more than seven million copies in 35 editions, and was transformed into a major motion picture starring Patrick Swayze. Lapierre has used the royalties for The City of Joy to finance a number of charitable institutions in the slums of Calcutta and the destitute area of the Ganges delta. He and his wife, also named Dominique, were made citizens of honour of Calcutta for their humanitarian efforts.
A Thousand Suns was published in 1999, and chronicles the heroes and events that have shaped the life of the author-philanthropist. In 2002 Lapierre joined the acclaimed journalist Javier Moro to chronicle the world's worst industrial disaster in the book Five Past Midnight in Bhopal. Last year, together with Larry Collins, Lapierre wrote Is New York Burning?, a diabolic thriller set in the heart of today's world and its madness.