Rudyard Kipling was a British author and poet born in India. He is best known for The Jungle Book (1894) and Kim (1901). I read Kim about 6 years ago. It was my first encounter with Kipling, and I never forgot it. The story takes place here in India, and is as much about the location as it is about the adventures of young Kim. That was also my introduction to India, and it set my expectations for this trip. Just for the record, basing your expectations of a country on an account that is over 100 years old is silly. Years later I read some of Kipling's short stories. My favorite of these is Without Benefit of Clergy, an amazingly sad story of a British officer stationed in India who has a child with an Indian woman.
