Kim8217;s Trail

Seeing places from favourite books has got to be one of life8217;s most intense, private pleasures. How stupidly happy one feels to see the killingly romantic corner by the bridge on the Arno in Florence, where Dante reportedly first set eyes on Beatrice; or the cold, stone chamber in Glamis Castle where Macbeth supposedly stabbed Duncan. But the loveliest trail exists right here in our neck of the woods: Kim8217;s. I8217;d start where the book begins, with Lahore8217;s Zamzama cannon. see pic. Did you know Ahmed Shah Abdali had it cast by collecting one copper vessel from each Hindu home in Lahore? From there it8217;s a tiny step to the cool high halls of the Ajaib Ghar, or Lahore Museum, the Wonder House where Buddhist sculptures of exalted beauty were admired reverently by Teshoo Lama, the Tibetan monk Kim befriends in particular, the Fasting Buddha kicks you in the gut independently of Kipling. That8217;s before diving into the 8220;roaring Motee Bazaar8221; at right angles to the Ajaib Ghar, where victuals may be found.

I8217;d definitely want to go by train through the green fields of the Punjab, past the towns whose 8220;names rang like8230; wedding bells: Ambala, Jullunder, Ludhiana and Phillour8221; in the Kipling short story, 8216;8216;William the Conqueror8217;8217;, a northbound route taken in reverse by Kim and the Lama as they head for Varanasi. But the most evocative Kim cities whose 19th century avatars are worth looking up are Shimla and Lucknow. The first, to hunt for Lurgan8217;s Sahib8217;s possible house, except Shimla now looks like Lajpat-Nagar-on-Hill, a Delhi market. The second, to wander around La Martiniere, the model for 8216;8216;St Xavier8217;s in Partibus8217;8217;, the 8216;8216;Gates of Learning8217;8217; where Kim8217;s education is sponsored by the Lama for three years. Or perhaps, one might take another Kipling trail to Kanha and Bandhavgarh and follow MOWGLI along the Ranganga?

Mind, none of this book trail business is new to Indians. We8217;ve been traipsing from Kashmir to Kanyakumari on yatras since ages and all because of two rather special books, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.