Kipling's India

This book descried that Rudyard Kipling has been one of the most highly acclaimed writer-poets of the world. His works are widely read, not only in India but all cross the globe. India- its people and culture, its geography and landscapes- has been a central aspect of his creative aesthetic. The object of the present volume is to describe those bits of India which have served as a background for Kipling's songs and stories. From Bombay, the birth place of Kipling and the threshold of India from the West, the scribe will attempt to take the reader in imagination first to Simla, far up on the northeastern border among the Himalaya Mountains which separate India from mysterious Tibet, on into the heart of Himalaya, thence southwest to the Great Rajputana Desert, northward again to the Border Country, from the Border down through India to Burma, and along the haunting road to Mandalay.

Arley Isabel Munson Hare, MD (1871 c. 1941) was an American physician, surgeon, author, and lecturer. As a young woman in the early 20th century, Munson was a pioneer in the field of medical mission work with the Wesleyan Methodist Mission in Medak, Andhra Pradesh, India. Along with evangelical motives, Munson had a special interest in the state of the health of Indian women and children and in the treatment of epidemics such as cholera or tuberculosis. Munson also served in France during World War I, directing labs, clinics, and dispensaries. The French Government awarded her with the Medaille d'Honneur des Affaires Étrangères pour actes de courage et dévouement au personnel militaire étranger for her medical service.

HERE are probably many thousand readers of Rudyard Kipling who have at some time or other laid aside the particular book that happened to be in hand at the moment and asked mentally.

"Just what sort of a place is this that Kipling mentions? What is its life, what are its charms, and what the reason for its existence?" The object of this work is to briefly describe these bits of India which have served as a back- ground for Kipling's songs and stories. From Bombay, the birthplace of Kipling and the threshold of India from the West, the scribe will attempt to carry the reader in imagination first to Simla, far up on the northeastern border among the Himalaya Mountains which separate India from mysterious Thibet-the Anglo-India of Rudyard Kipling, the India of Mrs. Hauksbee and Mrs. Reiver, of the Gadsbys and of Wressley of the Foreign Office; in a word, the India of the scores of men and women who flit across the scene in the stories that make up the greater part of Plain Tales from the Hills, Under the Deodars, and The Story of the Gadsbys; on into the heart of the Himalayas where Kim and the lama and Hurree Babu "stalked" the Russian spies; thence south- west to the Great Rajputana Desert, the country of The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes, and of Nick Tarvin of The Naulahka; northward again to the Border Country on the trail of Dravot and Carnehan of The Man Who Would Be King; and of Jakin and Lew of The Drums of the Fore and Aft; from the Border down through India to Burma; and along the haunting road to Mandalay. Let the reader suppose, then, for example, that he is a tourist in India-like Pagett, M. P., of the verses, though with qualifications, for "Pagett, M. P., was a liar, and a fluent liar therewith";-and that his ship has brought him into Bombay Harbour to begin his tour through Kipling's India.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages