If we say the words Breakfast at Tiffiny's, we are sure it conjures up the image of American actor Audrey Hepburn wearing that iconic black dress while essaying the titular character of New York socialite Holly Golightly. But did you know that the dress has a strong Indian connection? Givenchy, the designer of the dress, gave it French author Dominique Lapierre for it to be auctioned. The money from the auction went towards building schools in India, the first of which, was opened on February 28, 2007.
French author Dominique Lapierre, who has to his credit books like City of Joy, Freedom at Midnight and so on, had a special connection with India. In fact, he describes his relation with Kolkata to be a "love story". He can also converse in Bengali fluently. He would use his royalties to fund and run projects for the underprivileged in India. And it is for this reason that the philanthropist was awarded the Padma Bhushan.
To tell you more about the writer. In 2001, Lapierre and Javier Moro published a book, Five Past Midnight in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the World’s Deadliest Industrial Disaster. Needless to say, it was based on the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. And it is now being turned into a web series.
