If you were to be reincarnated, what would you like to be?
It does not matter, as long as it would be a completely enriching experience. When I look at nature, I can see what reincarnation is about, in a very physical way. But actually, I do not know about souls…

If there were one question you could ask God, what would it be?
What am I doing here? What does this cycle of birth, life and death mean?

What is your idea of happiness
To be at peace with my work and with myself. There was this village in Bengal which I used to visit in the Sixties, so completely poor. Years later, thanks to the revival of the interest in crafts, they were so much better off, and on my way back after a rich meal there, I think I was the happiest ever in my life.

The writer is a French traveller who has worked in international relations, classical music, journalism and psychology. But it is her particular interest in spiritual matters that has led her to devise this version of The Proust Questionnaire: “It helps us to see people who they really are inside.”