Kipling’s Kim: An Ambivalence of Travel and Tour

This manuscript analyses travel and tour stasis to evaluate an ambivalent portrayal of India in Rudyard Kipling’s Kim. Kipling, a British Imperial writer, extensively describes Indian art and literature. This paper discusses India by using a method based on writings reflected in art and literature. Indian perception is depicted by Kipling as a British native writer, who undertakes the literary travel and tour of India. This paper seeks to show how India has been portrayed by the Western scholar during the period of British imperial rule. Such portrayal of Kipling’s early life, as he stayed in India for some years, was influenced by Indian culture. Most of his works reflect both East-West influences. This research study sheds light on how Kipling’s novel represents India as seen by eastern and western eyes. The research based on qualitative approach adopts the method of tour and travel literature in Kipling’s Kim. Kipling’s views represented in most of his works reveal his dualistic stance. No doubt. It investigates a new life, a new age and a new day in Kipling’s outlook on the Eastern and the Western polarities. Kipling’s scholarship, in his novel, Kim, highlights the Indian cultural writings built on its tour and travel inertia during the British India. Kipling is among the poets, novelists and short story writers who examine both East-West literary perspectives. This study explores the source of the Indian art and literature through travel and tour in Kipling’s Kim.