On a delightful summer morning as I was enjoying my quiet saunter down the Millbank area in London, a spectacular building across the Vauxhall bridge piqued my curiosity. I then got it through my head that it is the headquarters of the British Secret Intelligence Service MI6 located on the banks of River Thames at Vauxhall Cross. The architecture of the building is a layered block structure resembling an Aztec temple. I let my imagination run wild and stood there furtively waiting for the iconic espionage character James Bond to emerge from one of the doors. The world of 007 and his creator Ian Fleming was beginning to dawn on me.
Chastened, I walked further past the Millbank pier to a building with a distinctive archway and classic architecture. I briefly looked over the name Thames House carved and painted on a rectangular black granite plate at the entrance. One could possibly mistake this building for a shopping mall or a resort. But it is verily the headquarters of the British Security Service known as MI5. It is believed that there is an automated miniature monorail within the building to transfer documents from the storage to the staff on all floors. I can’t have taken a more bespoke route on that day witnessing the real-world destinations of the fictional James Bond. In the world of fiction, MI5 and MI6 have been fantastically fascinating. But how far is it real? So, I am intrigued to explore some truths about espionage in England.
MI6 gathers intelligence overseas and MI5 is responsible for domestic counterintelligence. As a matter of fact a ruthless Tudor spy network is the forerunner of today's MI5. In the late sixteenth century, during the Catholic-Protestant divide the royal court of queen Elizabeth I formed England’s first ever cold-blooded espionage to protect the queen. To Elizabeth, all Catholics were people kindling treason. Elizabeth’s spy network used cyphers to decrypt letters and used merchants as secret agents. Such spying experiments lead to trial and execution of Elizabeth’s rival Mary, Queen of Scots and saw several other kidnappings, executions, and murders. History is always full of gruesome astonishing events. We are now progressively learning to live in peace with each other I reckon.
Now if you really want to drink it in the world of James Bond, the Dukes hotel at St. James’ place serves Bond’s favourite “shaken, not stirred” Vesper martini. It would be pricey enough because it’s London but one might gladly do it in honour of Ian Fleming who experimented and came up with Bond’s signature beverage. It can’t get much better than this. Can it?
Ian Fleming wrote about the exploits of James Bond in 12 novels and 9 short stories. It was not just fiction; his Bond storylines were inspired by his own experience as a naval intelligence officer during the second world war. Roald Dahl, a notable children’s writer, worked with Fleming in espionage at the same time. Dahl and Fleming were part of a group of British spies involved to mould the political kinship between the United States of America and the United Kingdom against the Nazi Germany in World War 2. After the war Dahl became a great storyteller for children. It’s speculated that Dahl could be Fleming’s significant motivation to write spy novels and create James Bond. Dahl wrote the screenplay for Fleming’s film adaptation of his Bond novel ‘You Only Live Twice’. Dahl took some liberty to introduce new forms of technology and fear of nuclear war in the story. And it’s a triumph down the memory lane.
On one of my ambles in the English seaside town Weston, I chanced upon a blue plaque in honour of Roald Dahl. Among Dahl's stories for children, my personal favourite is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He enlightened me that just because you can drink your weight in chocolate, doesn’t mean you should. Dahl attended school at Weston briefly. Oh, the beach at Weston is muddy. Not a typical beach for swimming. But it is nice to go on a stroll by the silent shore.
Fleming tells us, "Never say 'no' to adventures. Always say 'yes,' otherwise you'll lead a very dull life," That's sound advice from the man who created James Bond. These lines are from his children’s novel ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’. Dahl wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of this novel too into the bargain. It's a classic adventure about a flying car. Who wouldn’t want a magical adventure on a fine four fendered friend? Thus from promenading around 007's hangout in London where he gets a briefing from his boss M to exploring the remarkable lives of Fleming and Dahl, and all in all, I must say my sojourn has been adventuresome. But nobody does it better than James Bond. He’s got a license to kill as well as a license to chill.
Comments
Post a Comment