Kim and Kipling

The other day I randomly picked up Rudyard's Kiplings somewhat famous book Kim. First of all, my copy happens to be an amazing hardback from 1901, with some beautiful artwork included within it and a very extraordinary cover. I bought it at a book sale for 25 cents a few years ago.

The story, at least 100 pages in, is about a young Indian boy named Kim who decides to join a Tibetan monk/yogi who is traveling through India on a pilgrimage of sorts. I am really, truly enjoying the story. Beyond the story itself, here are some of the things I have been thinking about as I read:

1. Kipling doesn't seem as racist as I had been told he was through the years. In fact, he seems far ahead of his time. There have hardly been any white characters at all!
2. It's so cool to see somebody writing about Tibetans at a time when few had heard or likely even cared about Tibet. There were no Brad Pitt movies about it yet, or Free Tibet stickers on the backs of cars. I can't help but think somebody like Kipling did a lot to open the eyes of people in the West to how vast our world really is.
3. There is an amazing sort of plurality in Kipling's India. Muslims and Hindus worship at the same shrines, and everybody is anxious to learn from a Tibetan holy man; especially the religious leaders! I'm fascinated by this, especially knowing how tensions have been high there for a number of years where divisions lie along religious grounds.
4. Last night an old friend was telling me how they are planning to go to India on a religious pilgrimage of sorts and it made me think of The Brothers K and The Darjeeling Limited, both of which bring up a lot of questions about spiritual seeking in India. I wonder if this book will do the same? I wonder what my friend will discover? I wonder what the Beatles really discovered when they went there?

I'll try to let you know what I think of the book when I finish... Maybe I'll read all the Mowgli stories afterwards.

Peace,
Matt