Sherlock fans were in for a treat as they went pub crawling to solve the mystery at a recent Sherlock Pub Crawl event to celebrate Benedict Cumberbatch's 41st birthday the Sherlock way. Akanksha Soni was also on the hunt to bring you a report
According to Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch), one would have to be a high-functioning sociopath to crack the clues specially organised to celebrate his 41st birthday in the Capital. Taking the unconventional route of on-ground activity, the Sony Pictures-owned AXN channel recently organised the Sherlock Pub Crawl across five pubs — Circus, People & Co, Sutra, Raasta and Hard Rock Café in five cities — Gurugram, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune and Bengaluru. Each venue had one cosplayers dressed as a popular character from the series who put the Sherlock fans or Sherlockians to test by asking interesting questions about the series. That’s not all. The participants had to take a selfie with the character, upload it on their social media handle and win complimentary food platter which is a Sherlock favourite — fish and chips.
Sherlokians who came out in a large groups, put on their thinking caps. “When I got to know about the hunt on my Twitter feed, I left work early to be a part of it. I am a huge fan and hunts like these are a great way to bring the Sherlockians together and engage in fun activities. At every stage, there is a surprise waiting for us and to top it all, we get treated to some food and drinks. Nothing can get better than this,” Abhinav Gupta, a Sherlokian, tells you.
The detectives for the night met at Circus pub, waiting in anticipation, craning their necks looking for the characters from Sherlock series hidden among the crowd. The crowd went berserk as they scanned the scene for their first clue — the telltale white coat — that is Dr Molly (the morgue specialist who had a crush on Sherlock) in the back trenches of the restaurant, casually leaning against the wall soaking in the drama. As the fans approached her, Dr Molly asked: “What is my fiancé’s nameIJ” A true Sherlockian would know that is it none other than Tom.
After getting a selfie clicked with Dr Molly and uploaded online, the next clue directed the Sherlockians to People & Co pub. While searching for another popular character, fans were treated to some lip-smacking pizzas and lemon basil cocktails when a shriek went out and there she was — Mrs Hudson (the much adored landlady of 221B Bakers Street) perched on a table in plain sight, seeping a martini. Mrs Hudson was soon swamped by fans who had to convince her of who Sherlock Holmes is. The fans had to answer questions that she asked related to Sherlock’s habits and a few things that he didn’t think was important. For example: Sherlock wasn’t aware that the Earth revolved around the Sun. This is something that a true Sherlokian would know since it was revealed in the first season only.
Once satisfied, Mrs Hudson directed the detectives to the next pub — Sutra. The restaurant was packed and the detectives had squeeze themselves around the diners in order to reach the Sherlock reserved table and put their heads together to figure out where the next character could be hidden but more importantly who!
Sure enough, seated on a table nearby was a tall handsome man dressed in a crisp suit. If you haven’t guessed who, it is Mycroft Holmes (Sherlock’s elder brother), who did his best to blend in with the crowd. The detectives were asked the age difference between him and Sherlock. The answer is 7. The more difficult question to answer was his and Sherlock’s occupation since Mycroft’s job is described as “basically the entire British Government.”
On successfully answering these difficult questions, the detectives were directed to the restaurant right next door — Raasta. The detectives had an inkling who they would find here — Sherlock’s partner and trusted confidant John Watson.
The search did take time since he was easily spotted lounging by the bar, however answering his questions were tough and baffling. “What as the title of my first entry on my blog about my cases with SherlockIJ, Where was I posted as an Army doctorIJ, Where did I take Sarah on our first dateIJ, to name a few.
Sipping refreshments, Sherlockians hopped on to the last destination — Hard Rock Cafe where they were welcomed with a loud applause and cheers from all the characters who had already been identified — Dr Molly Hoover, Mrs Hudson and Mycroft Holmes and the AXN India team.
The hunt would not be over without meeting the man himself and the fun-filled night ended with Sherlockians meeting Sherlock himself.
For the Sherlockians the good news is that the channel is airing all the episodes of Sherlock — Monday-Friday 10pm to 12am.