London, Dec 2 (ANI): 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)
--MP