Kipling's house to be turned into a museum

London, Dec 2: Jungle book writer Rudyard Kipling's birthplace in the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) is being converted into an art museum.

Maharashtra state government has set up a committee to run the project.

Located on the JJ School of Art campus in Mumbai, the stone and timber bungalow is now being transformed into a museum that will house both Kipling artefacts and pieces of contemporary art.

"It's part of the process of India finally pardoning Kipling," the Telegraph quoted Rukmini Bhaya Nair, Professor of English at the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi, as saying.

Kipling"s father John Lockwood Kipling was hired as Dean of the art school, playing an important role in Mumbai's art and architecture scene.

According to Kipling"s biographers, the bungalow is set in an overgrown tropical garden in the heart of Bombay.

The Jindal Foundation, a charity, has contributed money for restoration and Bombay city authorities have given their approval. However, since nothing of the Kipling household has survived, the museum is scouring the world for possible donors of photographs, letters, manuscripts and former possessions.

"Kipling left India as a child but he never forgot Bombay. He called it the best city in the world and I am pleased to pay him this tribute," Sangeeta Jindal, chairman of the foundation, said.

When the museum will open in 2009, it is certain to attract Indian admirers as well as visitors from overseas.

ANI>