James Bond V/s Sherlock Holmes

   

                      

John Buchan once said “every man at the bottom of his heart feels he is a born detective”. May be this is the reason why two of the finest detectives ever penned by the mankind thus remain to be the superhero of every man. No matter how powerful and charismatic the ‘batman’ ‘superman’ or ‘he-man‘ be but the style, the intelligence and the smartness of Holmes and Bond overshadows all the supernatural powers.

I have been a fan of Sherlock Holmes ever since class VII, when I first read the story of the Silver Blaze. What impressed me most about the detective from 221b Bakers Street was, the observation power, the sharpness of his mind and his wittiness. Sherlock Holmes first appeared in 1887 in A Study in Scarlet. As industrious as the state of England may be but still in the late 19^th century he had to primarily rely on his own abilities to solve cases due to lack of technological advances and gadgets. Not to forget he would consume cocaine as he believed it makes his brain stronger and sharper. Though Dr. Watson was strictly against this habit of his he continued to do so. Don’t know if it actually helps but it would be foolish to question his mental abilities. The basic concept of his dressing that includes a hat, a pipe, a long coat with a belt and a looking glass has been a trade mark detective costume for ages now.

                                         

The knowledge of chemistry, the skill of disguise and the ability to judge human nature helped Holmes crack the toughest of the mysteries much quicker than anyone can even with the help of the most advanced gadgets. The best example of which could be found in the Dying Detective where he knew exactly what the symptoms of the disease thus caused by the poison was, reacting to which he was even smarter in dressing himself up in such a way so as to look being infected. The apt use of belladonna and vaseline made him look a convincing malingerer thus defying the culprit. 

His simplicity and effortless ability of analysing the situation has been his USP in solving the anonymities of the Read Headed league, the Sussex Vampire, the speckled band and many more. Nonetheless the quintessential inputs of his medical knowledge by Dr. Watson cannot be over-looked including the time to time monetary help that he had been making to Holmes.

                                             

The other British counter-part, better known as double O seven has equally impressed me with his sheer style, brisk movements and intelligence. Unlike Holmes I haven’t read Bond stories but have sincerely been watching all the movies based on them. The manner in which he uses his gadget might make Madame M go bizarre but he himself and all his fans just love to see him do so. From Bentley to Aston martin, from BMW to Routemaster, he has mastered it all. Be it driving on wheels or with the remote as he did in Tomorrow Never Dies, his cars love him as much as he does. So is the case with his Beretta and Walther which made him the greatest small arm’s expert. Some where I once read that Ian Fleming wanted the name of his character to be dull and unromantic hence he gave it a very simple name ‘James Bond’. Wonder if he had ever thought the name ‘Bond as in James Bond’ would become the most stylish name ever making the character one of the biggest Casanova the world has ever seen. Unlike Holmes, Bond would not take drugs instead was intoxicated by women and of course vodka martini.

                      

                    

     

On one hand where we see the brilliance of his fist movement and awesome use of gun in the Golden eye and Quantum of Solace, movies like the World is Not Enough and Casino Royal proves his cerebral abilities.  

Nonetheless, just to justify my belief of a woman brain being sharper and having better decision making power I would like to point out that both these super brainy lads were outclassed by a woman each. Irene Adler whom Holmes always referred to as ‘the woman’ had outshined his master brains on several occasion. Similarly, Wai Lin of Tomorrow Never Dies had bettered Bond in both briskness and intelligence.

Having said that it still makes it so very difficult to choose between the two greats as to who was better. Both the British counterparts have had their share of fan following all throughout the world and have proved being worthy of it time and again. Where Holmes captivates a reader to maximum attention, James Bond is a visual delight. Though I am not much of a reader myself and hardly can a book capture my attention for more than ten minutes, Sir Arthur Canon Doyle indeed has created such a brilliant character which I can never resist reading. On the other hand, where the likes of Mission Impossible and other super hero movies are mere time pass for me, Bond movies are always a must watch for the plot it generates and way it is executed. 

to B or not to B

Once in every four years we have an extra working day in the month of February. This leap year though was a bit different. The extra working day was not quite welcomed, atleast not in India. As a result, a nation-wide strike was called on the 28^th day of February to get the counting of working days back to normal. 11 major Trade Unions all around the country called a ‘bharat bandh’ to protest against the Anti- labour policies and demanding a set security system for unorganised sector workers, which was well supported by opposition parties across the Indian Peninsular.  Normalcy in life amongst most of the states was affected due to the bandh.

The basic cause behind the country wide strike though was known to a very small section of the society. Everybody had their own say on the reason behind the shut-down that the nation experienced. While interacting with my peers and colleagues I realised that a ‘bandh’ was merely a holiday to them, providing an unofficial but compulsory day off from work. They had no clue about why this happened and neither did they want to know. While some took this to be an agitation against the ever increasing price of necessary goods, others believed it to be a protest of the Left party concerning the ‘Park Street Rape case’. Other versions included ‘the FDI in retail sector’, ‘anticipated fuel price hike’ ‘support for Anna Hazare against corruption’ and even the ‘child adoption case in Norway’. This surely speaks something about the imaginative Indian public but nevertheless it describes how the concept of ‘strike’ has lost its basic purpose.

Where most of the private offices and schools were officially open IT and service sectors did claim high turnout. Schools though officially were open, students took the opportunity to take a day off. I remember being a student I was always enthusiastic about a bandh or a strike. This happiness would not last for long though as I would have to attend the school on a stipulated holiday – a Saturday or Thursday as it may be to make up for the lost day. But still an unplanned off is always welcomed by kids.

The bandh saw a good very effect on the rest of the city of Kolkata as well. An all India bandh was seen after a relatively long time (last one being on July 5^th 2010, the bandh on December 1^st, 2011 was by traders against FDI and had least possible effect on other sections of the society). People felt quite relaxed and were more than happy to sit at home. More so as the day was scheduled for a decider cricket match between World Cup rivals India and Sri Lanka, fighting their way into the finals of triangular series. Interestingly team India did wonders on the pitch as they pulled off a gem of an innings with the bat. Hence the bandh indeed served as a blessing in disguise for the people of India especially for the cricket crazy Kolkatans.

While traffic was off road, sports did reign supreme. Cricket, football, badminton, basketball were seen all the way on streets and residential compounds. In certain areas like Tollygunge and Bhawanipur children flying kites could be spotted throughout the day. By dusk things were quite close to normalcy. A lot of restaurants and fast food joints were operating with decent customer pull. After a long day at home people were out on a drive with their cars, some taking the opportunity for a leisurely walk, which otherwise is next to impossible in the city.

On the other side, as usual the major sufferers that emerged out of the bandh were the retailors, the transporters and daily wage earners. The sale lost on the given day can never be achieved in future. A taxi driver or an auto driver would never be able to make up for the lost passengers on that day. Similarly, for a labourer who earns on daily basis cannot make up for the labour lost on the day of bandh. While the Trade Union called for this strike in lieu of protection of the labourers and workers they seldom do think of the loss that these people accrue in such cases. This reminds me of the lines from a song ‘Do Jassos’ – apna ghar hi phunk rahe hain, ye kaisa inqualab hai (they blowing off their own houses, wonder what kind of a protest is this?) I don’t say protesting against an issue is wrong but there should be a better way out to show the disagreement rather than a bandh where drawbacks are more prominent than the advantages.

One funny side for me about this particular bandh was the comments made by of respected Chief Minister. She was quoted speaking to the tabloids where she said  "Bandh is not the future of Bengal or for that matter the Country. The destructive culture of Bandh has ended today. Let no one have the courage to call a bandh again." Such quotes by Smt. Mamata Banerjee came as quite a shock to me. While she served in the opposition, bandh was a very frequent phenomenon and was used by her as a mojor weapon against the ruling party.
Nonetheless the more important questions that still remain unanswered are - Do bandhs serve the desired motive? do Bands have any effect on the governing body ? how do people perceive bandh?  is it yet another holiday to them or boycotting the work genuinely means that the society is in support of the cause? It is quite difficult to land up to a conclusion but bandhs I guess would continue in the manner they do whether or not it makes any sense.