Happy Birthday, Rudyard Kipling: The Mumbai Boy Who Spoke Hindi First and Created The Jungle Book

He was born under the sultry skies of Bombay, spoke Hindi before English, and carried the rhythm of India into the pages of The Jungle Book that the world would never forget. Some birthdays deserve a bit of noise - not the loud, firecracker kind, but that quiet hum of recognition that travels through memory and literature. December 30 marks the birth of Rudyard Kipling, the man who gave us The Jungle Book - and curiously enough, a boy from Mumbai before he was anything else. Yes, Mumbai (then Bombay), the steamy, seductive chaos of it all, where the scent of coconut oil and sea salt makes its way into your dreams. That’s where it began. Malabar Point, Bombay (1865) - where Kipling was born The Boy Who Spoke Hindi Before English Kipling’s earliest lullabies? They weren’t English nursery rhymes. They were Hindustani phrases murmured by his ayahs and servants ...

Devyani

• 4 days ago
• 4 minutes read