Bond Revisited – Egypt Independent

I have always been a fan of James Bond movies, with the exception of the last one, which frankly was a flop as the script, acting and directing were more concerned with being ‘woke’ and politically correct rather than ‘Bond correct’.

Ian Fleming was turning in his grave.

Bond movies from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig were fun, entertaining and made you forget the agonizing reality around you.

I had the pleasure of meeting Roger Moore (Bond) and Samantha Bond (Money Penny) at Christie’s on King’s Street in London years ago at an auction of Bond items.

Moore in person was every bit the gentleman you witnessed in his version of the Bond movies he portrayed, standing tall in a double-breasted grey suit and a crimson and grey matching tie.

We spoke for a few moments at the pre-auction cocktail, and he was very engaging before the announcement of the auction starting when he walked to his first-row seat.

I took an aisle seat in the third row and watched the exciting auction of Bond items. Samantha Bond encouraged me as I bid for the set of Ian Fleming books, and I was lucky I got them.

In my early years, I lived with my late father in India as he was representing the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and I was a teenager in school.

Those were the days of Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India at the time, and the Egyptian Film Festival coming to New Delhi before anyone had heard of Bollywood.

Being a Bond fan, fast forward, I was in Cairo when the Bond movie “Octopussy” was released in 1983. As always, I enjoyed the movie and was intrigued by the setup which I later learnt was a location in the middle of a lake in Udaipur, India.

After more research over the years, I learnt where the amazing scenes were filmed. It was the magnificent Taj Lake Palace hotel. Located in the middle of Lake Pichola, the magnificent building, all in marble, was built in 1746 with majestic architecture. Lake Palace is a former summer palace of the royal dynasty of Mewar.

The Lake Palace was built under the direction of Maharana Jagat Singh II (the 62nd successor to the royal dynasty of Mewar) of Udaipur, Rajasthan as a summer palace. It was initially called Jagniwas or Jan Niwas after its founder.

As I learnt from my research, the Taj Palace, which looks as if it is floating over the lake, has hosted 300 dancers and elephants all in service of the Maharana of the time, who held his parties in private.

Maharana Bhopal Singh oversaw the renovation of the Palace, and Maharana Mahendra Singh turned the Lake Palace into a hotel, which received a Five-Star rating.

As with images that remain in your mind, I always wanted to visit.

I had planned in 1983 to stay with my wife in the Treetops Hotel, rated three-stars, in Nyeri, Kenya, during our honeymoon. Elizabeth was in Kenya at Treetops Hotel when her father, George VI, died on February 6, 1952, and she became Queen.

Our visit was not pleasant as we discovered the room was less than tiny, and sharing bathrooms was standard. We literally left the same day.

My wife had always wanted to visit India, and as I had to go to Malaysia and Udaipur was midway, I decided to break our 11-hour flight to Kuala Lumpur and experience the Taj Lake Palace.

What I had not expected was that you could not go directly and had to land in Ahmadabad Airport for immigration clearance, then fly to Maharana Pratap. Indian bureaucracy!

Given the state of Egyptian bureaucracy, I have a theory that both India and Egypt were influenced by the British and their bureaucracy.

Landing in Maharana Pratap we were welcomed by Taj Lake Palace representatives. That was followed by a 40-minute car ride in traffic to the lake. The scene was exquisite as a boat took us to the hotel after a ten-minute ride. There we were welcomed royally, taken to the Chandra Prakash suite and introduced to our “body man” who accompanied us everywhere in our adventure until we left.

The hotel must be experienced to be described. The service was impressive and the hotel an adventure by itself.

We were there for two nights.

On our first evening, we visited the Lily Pond. In the Bond movie the titular Octopussy, played by Maud Adams, lounged about at the Lily Pond, a picturesque place at the center of the palace, all while her Amazon warriors lingered around it in every exotic dress.

It is a Bond film, after all.

On our second night, we dined at the Italian restaurant after my wife and I visited the bar where Roger lingered as Bond, and I sat where he enjoyed his Vesper Martini shaken not stirred.

During our dessert, we were practically ambushed as two Indian gentlemen came to our table with a lady.

The younger gentleman introduced himself as Mukesh Singh and asked, “You are Shafik Gabr?” I nodded as I had a mouthful of ice cream.

The second gentleman, older and in Indian dress, introduced himself as Rajendra Wadhwani, and he looked at the lady and said, “Wendy Smith from Australia”.

After preliminary introductions, both my wife and I finished our desserts as they hovered seriously, showing they were not going anywhere. Shortly afterwards, we retired to a well-decorated gaming salon where we ordered coffee and Kashmiri tea.

The room designed for chess, backgammon, and card games was where Kamal Khan (Louis Jourdan) lost to Bond in backgammon as Bond unveiled Khan’s cheating.

We sat in a circle, and Wendy began by apologizing that she and her partners crashed upon us, but she explained that Mukesh recognized me from the World Economic Forum in Davos and knew of my interest in technology.

Wendy, in a clear Australian accent, in a bright red dress and blonde hair in a ponytail, and Mukesh, in a combination British-Indian accent in jeans and a blue polo shirt, explained their business in the world of technology and their business presence in Australia, India, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

They continued detailing their history, present activity and multiple successes as I sipped the wonderful Kashmiri tea.

Kashmiri tea has saffron, an important component of the Kashmiri Kahwa, it is also known to have antioxidant effects and can improve mood and ease anxiety. Other spices present in the Kahwa, like clove and cinnamon, have been known to have antioxidant elements, which make the Kashmiri Kahwa tea a healthy and unique beverage that is surprisingly not sold in packages but only made fresh.

Wendy and Mukesh must have spoken for over fifteen minutes in a non-stop manner of back and forth detailing their success and failures.

I listened carefully as I sensed they were serious and articulate.

When they paused, I asked half a dozen questions. About their start-ups, their teams and geographic experiences. Their answers were eloquent, based on facts and properly measured. Mukesh was clearly the numbers person, and both Wendy and Rajendra were the technologists.

Rajendra rarely spoke except to interject a missing technical nugget.

After they answered all the points I raised, Rajendra spoke, addressing me, “Mr Gabr, Mukesh recognized you as a known tech investor, a regular at the WEF and MSC, plus a first-class promoter”.

I nodded and responded, “Thank you, exaggerated but appreciated.”

Rajendra explained that their company, Firestone Technology, had two projects and wanted to explain them and gauge my interest and feedback. He mentioned to Wendy to proceed.

Wendy described the project “Monte”. It concerns a basic problem we all face every day she said. Misplacing our cell phones, she added.

Rajendra interjected, “We find it simply by calling its name.” Wendy added that you set up the name of your cell phone from a roster of three billion titles.

Wendy explained that the technology has been tested with one brand of cell phones. If successful, this technology will be a huge breakthrough as it will be in high demand.

Rajendra picked up the conversation and described the second startup name, “Enord”. It’s in the preliminary stages, but very important and strategic, he emphasized. It’s a technology he added that disengages drones from their power source over a range of 300km. They drop like flies.

The discussion went on for two hours plus. My wife was running out of patience, but she was excited to learn about the birth of “Monte”, as on good days she misplaced her phone half a dozen times.

As the conversation wrapped up, I thanked Rajendra, Wendy, and Makesh told them I would have my team contact them and check their proposals when they send them next week to our Cairo office.

My wife and I said our goodbyes to Wendy, Mukesh and Rajendra. I hugged my wife as we looked across the lake towards the sparkling lights on the shore. We held hands and headed to our suite, followed by our body man carrying an umbrella even though it was not raining.

We had packing to do as we were leaving for Kuala Lumpur early the next morning. As we went to bed, it was clear Bond’s spirit remained at the palace.

About the author

M. Shafik Gabr is a renowned leader in international business, innovation, investment and one of the world’s premier collectors of Orientalist art, and an accomplished philanthropist.

During his career, Gabr established over 25 companies plus three investment holding companies including ARTOC Group for Investment and Development which, established in 1971, is a multi-disciplined investment holding company with businesses in infrastructure, automotive, engineering, construction and real estate, over the past three years focusing on investment in technology and artificial intelligence.

Gabr is the Chairman and a founding member of Egypt’s International Economic Forum, a member of the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum, a Board Member of Stanhope Capital, an International Chairman of the Sadat Congressional Gold Medal Committee, and a Member of the Parliamentary Intelligence Security Forum.

Gabr is a Member of the Metropolitan Museum’s International Council and serves on the Advisory Board of the Center for Financial Stability, the Advisory Board of The Middle East Institute, and the Global Advisory Council of the Mayo Clinic.

Through the Shafik Gabr Social Development Foundation, Gabr is helping to improve elementary-school education in Egypt, introducing students to arts and culture and promoting sports and physical fitness for youth. The Foundation has its first Medical and Social Development Center in Mokattam, Cairo, offering free medical and health services.

In 2012 Gabr established in the US the Shafik Gabr Foundation which supports educational and medical initiatives plus launched in November 2012 the ‘East-West: The Art of Dialogue initiative promoting exchanges between the US and Egypt with the purpose of cultural dialogue and bridge-building.

Gabr holds a BA in Economics and Management from the American University in Cairo and an MA in Economics from the University of London.