Rudyard Kipling Museum Coming to Mumbai
Officials in Mumbai plan to turn the birthplace of Rudyard Kipling into a museum honoring the author of The Jungle Book and other tales of colonial life. While India has long had a problematic relationship with the writer--who penned the poem The White Man's Burden--the museum hopes to credit Kipling as a literary ambassador of Indian life, with the caveat that his pro-colonial stance was a product of his turn-of-the-century ideals.
Times of India columnist Swapan Dasgupta says the museum is perfect for Mumbai:
[Kipling was] probably the greatest chronicler of India at the turn of the 20th century, who captured the flavour of India to a point where it became folklore.
If you can't get to Mumbai to see the museum, two other Kipling homes are popular with visitors. The writer lived at 43 Villiers Street in London from 1889 to 1891, between the Charing Cross and Embankment tube stations. In Brattleboro, Vermont, you can even spend the night in Kipling's Naulakha estate and try to draft your own tales of distant lands.
Related Stories:
· India Plans Museum for Rudyard Kipling [NPR]
· "Imperialist" Kipling Gets Indian Rehabilitation [Telegraph]
· India Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: bombay dreams2006]
Leave a Comment
Not yet a member? Click here to become a member.
Already a member? Login below: