Mr. Ian Fleming (I’m sure) had no idea while creating ‘Commander Sir James Bond’ of the British Secret Intelligence Service ; commonly known as MI6, that the character would become one of the most admired ‘heroes’ of yesteryears.
A good Bond film meant Sean Connery, great looking women, a lot of love making, sinister looking villans, a pridictable plot, licence to kill, ‘hero always wins’, ‘Bond saves the world yet again’, vodka martini (shaken not stirred), Aston Martin cars,and no commitment to any of the women metioned earlier…what a LIFE ! Every man I know has fantasised about living like Bond at one point in life, and why not? Bond stood for all the fun a man can have without the added responsibilities of living in a ‘real world’.
The ‘real world’ meant, going to office, having a wife (that didn’t look like a bond girl), raising children, paying their fees, being stopped by the police at 10PM at Ghanta Ghar and having to reply; “I live in Chakku Mohalla; Sir”, and not the Grand Royale Hotel in Venice, then having to explain to the wife (who dosent look like a Bond girl) why one is late (again). Life for a ‘non-Bond’ isnt really ‘Bond’ at all… as you can see.
The trouble is, none of us were ready to belive that Bond is a fictional character. He was part of every man that ever bought a ‘first day-first show’ ticket in ‘black’ at Capri (R.I.P.) to movies like ‘Dr. No’, ‘You Only Live Twice’, ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, ‘For Your Eyes Only’…
The trouble also is that he did finally remain ‘fiction’.
Sean Connery was followed by Roger Moore, who in turn had other younger men like Timolthy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and now Daniel Craig take on the mantle. ‘The Indian Bond Man’; of course, had to live with whatever body, wife and life were offered. Except that the Bond in some of us never died. Evident from the fact that the most expensive car registraion number in India is (guess what…) 007.
For the last few years, every time I see one of those coveted numbers on a car, I make it a point to stop and ask the owner a few questions. This is my research into a very interesting side of human psycology; fondly called ‘The Bond Syndrome’. Here are a few that I found intesting (also note the car the number was on). The names don’t matter …to me they are all just …‘Bond’.
Name
1. Mr. Bond
Mercedez Benz
Owner of a Paint Manufacturing Plant
"This is the number I always wanted.
This is me."
2 Mr. Bond
Maruti
Area Manager for a Pharma Company
"Oh! You noticed…Thank You, Thank
you"
3 Mr. Bond
Jeep
Farm owner just outside DehraDun
"I don’t know, the number came with
the Jeep...You want it?"
4 Mr. Bond
Maruti 800
Son
"Papa said 007 means we are 'Hip', he
paid extra for that number"
5 Mr. Bond
New Toyota SUV
"Hum kya James Bond se kam hain?"
The last one was especially interesting. This is how he sounded “Hum Kya Zames Baand se
kum Hai?”
“Not at all Sir…you’ve actually kept him alive… here … right behind your car!”
‘James Bond’ is dead…
Long live ‘Zames Baand’, licence to drive number- UK 07- XA- 0007.
Vineet Panchhi ow
ns and runs Audio Wagon, his lifelong passion and now a music company. He blogs at Unplanned Journeys , and can be reached at: vineet.panchhi@audiowagon.com
ns and runs Audio Wagon, his lifelong passion and now a music company. He blogs at Unplanned Journeys , and can be reached at: vineet.panchhi@audiowagon.com
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