Dear readers
“How
often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever
remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”
One of the most famous
quotes by one of the most famous and celebrated detectives of all times. Mr.
Sherlock Holmes.
My introduction to the
world of Sherlock Holmes goes way back when I was in school. Being from a
Marathi medium school meant I had some difficulty and apprehension when it came
to English literature. But in my house at Dadar I was literally surrounded by
all types of books Marathi as well as English. I am a voracious reader. But
still my inclination was always towards reading Marathi literature. As I see
back, because of that fear, I was missing out the entire magic world of English
literature. So my father, being a Marathi medium student himself, used to tell
me stories about how he developed habit of reading English and how he used to
check the unknown words using dictionary etc. What I starkly remember is him
telling me about this fantastic story called “Silver Blaze”. And I thought
“Okay. Let me give it a try”.
Unfortunately my
enthusiasm melted in no fewer than 2 pages as I kept looking in the dictionary
for the unknown words. I gave up. Luckily I came across a Marathi translation
of Sherlock Holmes stories by Bhalba Kelkar and Bha. Ra. Bhagwat. And wow!! I
was totally mesmerised. It had a huge
impact on me. I even tried thinking like Holmes (unsuccessfully of course). I
read those books at least 5 times so as to remember what happens in every
story.
Years went by. I started
learning Science and Mathematics in English for the first time since my 8th
standard and full coursework in English in my HSC. Slowly the apprehension
about English began to get converted into a fascination, curiosity and desire
to master it. “La lingua pura” as Dan Brown puts it in Angels and Demons.
Another landmark came when I started preparing for GRE. I may not have gone
abroad for studying but learning all those difficult words surely helped to
improve my command over English language. With this armour I revisited my dear
Holmes once again and god I enjoyed it. I could see why it became so popular.
What a masterpiece it is. It showed me how logical thinking could change the
way you look at simple things. “You see but you don’t observe”. Absolutely. Can
you remember number of steps to your house? I don’t know how that will help
you. But it shows you that there are so many things happening in your
surroundings. You are just not well equipped to appreciate them and you need to
train yourself in those awesome powers of observation and deduction. Somehow
methods Sherlock used to employ seem to be applicable to daily routine as well.
Anyways I went on and read all the stories including the short stories as well
as full novels. Now, not all the stories are good. But still to think in such a
diverse way revolutionized the detective genre of literature. Someone like
Agatha Christie (a subject for another article) went on to explore the
psychology of criminals via the grey cells of Hercule Poirot. Now a days we see
so many detective shows, police shows on television but I can definitely say in
some way or the other you will be reminded of the pioneer of these techniques,
our beloved hooked nose detective, Mr. Sherlock Holmes.
It is not at all surprising that so many adaptations exist for this
fictional detective. It’s a dream role for many actors and it has been played
over past decades by multitude of fine actors who bring in their own
interpretation of Sherlock. My three most favourite are Jeremy Brett, Benedict
Cumberbatch and Johnny Lee Miller. Jeremy can be considered as quintessential
Sherlock being a part of many short stories and movies and portraying the
character to the finest details mentioned in the book. Benedict stars in TV
series “Sherlock” which can be said as new age adaptation of old stories, where
Sherlock uses all the new tools modern science has to offer. But the basic
science of deduction remains the same. Johnny Lee Miller stars in an American
version of Sherlock Holmes in TV series called “Elementary”. In this Sherlock
is a recovering drug addict and to get over the addiction he consults with
NYPD. I love all these 3 portrayals. The cases are varied and it is fun to
guess beforehand who the culprit will be. Happiness is when your guess is
correct. All Sherlock lovers and lovers of Mystery genre in general must have
felt the thrill of being right. And that’s what Sherlock does to you. It takes
you away from the world you live in. It makes you stretch your imagination. It
makes you feel irritated when your guess goes haywire. It makes you fall in
love with notable enemies too (Remember Prof. Moriarty). Most important of all
it gives you immense joy and happiness to read or see your favourite detective
solving the crimes which seem impossible to ordinary people. The character of
Dr. Watson teaches you value of friendship, courage, loyalty and provides a big
contrast for the eccentric personality of Sherlock. All in all once you watch it
or read it you are going to like it.
We went to United Kingdom
in 2011 for a family trip and was I interested in Big Ben? No. Was I interested
in Madam Tussauds? No. Was I interested in Buckingham palace? No. Any guesses??
Yes. It was visiting 221B Baker Street. It’s an important junction for many
tube lines. We went to Sherlock Holmes museum, put on Sherlock Holmes hat,
pretended to smoke his pipe. It took me right back to my childhood. It was a
great feeling.
I still read it sometimes
when I am bored. I know why the dog did not bark or I know what’s in the sixth
Napoleon or I know what the speckled band is. But I still read it and feel the
thrill that I felt while reading it for the first time. Why?? “Elementary
Watson. Because I am SHERlocked”
Mihir
Awesome :)
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