Your most treasured possession?
My childhood memories: the poems and stories my grandfather told me, and the museums and estates we visited together.
Your favourite holiday destination?
Any journey centred on great architecture — Italy above all.
Your favourite hotel, restaurant & bar?
Hotel: La Mamounia, Marrakech
Restaurant: Maison Revka Dubai
Bar: Bar du Crillon , Paris and Church bar, Dublin
Your favourite book, film & song?
Books: Memoirs of Hadrian – Marguerite Yourcenar; The Master and Margarita – Mikhail Bulgakov
Film: Il Gattopardo – Luchino Visconti
Song/Opera: Bizet’s Carmen
Your favourite food and drink?
Food: Slow-cooked Iranian stews (khoresh)
Drink: Champagne Blanc de Blanc
Your favourite way to spend an afternoon?
An afternoon roaming a museum, stroll around Paris followed by an evening at the opera or theater.
If you weren’t in this sector, what would you alternative profession be?
Film director.
Anything else interesting?
This poem by Rumi beautifully captures the essence of my thoughts:
As long as you seek the gem in the sea,
You are the treasure you yearn to be,
As long as you hunger for a bit of bread,
You are that bread, by longing led.
Grasp this secret, subtle and true:
What you are seeking – is non but you
