KOLKATA: In Pondicherry, people address her as the mother. Back in her home in Paris, she is a countess who has produced 16 big budget films in French, including Forth Saganne which had Grard Depardieu in the lead.

Meet Albina du Boisrouvray who is on a visit to the city to work with the Aids patients in jute mills.

Though film production had kept her very busy, it was the death of her only son — the 24-year-old Francois Xavier — that prompted her to sell off her company and engage in philanthropic work.

“He was my only son and he worked as a helicopter rescue pilot in Switzerland. After his death, I thought I will do what he was doing by...helping the underprivileged who suffer from life threatening diseases. My compelling urge to carry forward my son’s mission has brought me to Kolkata,” she said on a solemn note.

It was way back in 1967 that Albina first visited India. “My godmother was a disciple of Sri Aurobindo. I had heard a lot about Indian culture and history. Just after my son’s death, I had been to St Francis Xavier’s church in Goa. Over the years, I have been to this country on innumerable visits.

“What brings me down to India is the fact that this is the land of my spiritual awakening,” she added.

But isn’t it difficult to stay in a five-star hotel and yet work selflessly for the poor?

“That’s possible because I can easily relate to the poor. My mother’s family was very poor and my father was a thoroughbred French gentleman. So I have seen both the sides of life. Being rich allows me to hobnob with power people and lobby for the poor’s cause. That’s an advantage.

“I have also contested in the parliamentary polls in France in 1978. But I realized that politics is about a lot of pretensions. So I chose to work on an individual basis by forming my own NGO. My NGO now works in all the Indian states and union territories in India.

“I have also worked in Africa and I find striking similarities in the way the silent killer is affecting people in both the countries,” she said.

Kolkata chapter over, Albina wants to visit Benaras on her spiritual quest.—By arrangement with The Times of India