The Road to Mandalay ..Rudyard Kipling ~ Yearning of one for the land of his birth and a lost love!

March 2002 ~ You all are experiencing profound change! ~ You would be the exception if you weren't just a wee bit wishing that things we now as they were before ... ?? NOW hear this deep yearning for something gone faraway and long ago ... Why I wondered am I incapable of listening to this poem,, which I have done a myriad times over the last week or so, without it really getting to me ? Is perhaps Kipling feeling and expressing the experience I have gone through as an expat? I am grateful to the Note stream Book Club ( https://www.notestream.com/streams/56... ) for the following extraction of a Kipling quote "𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙪𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙢 𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙚 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝘽𝙪𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣 … 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙙-𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙟𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙤𝙤, 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙖 𝙨𝙖𝙧𝙞 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩, 𝙣𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙥 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠: 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙖. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨, 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙗𝙗𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙛, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙘𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙀𝙜𝙮𝙥𝙩'𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙. 𝙃𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙢𝙨 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙠 𝙗𝙮 𝙖 𝘽𝙪𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙥𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙢𝙚𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙙𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙣𝙤 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛." Whereas I am always quite deeply affected by most of the poems/plays ..whatever i work on ~ This poem has really got to me in an extraordinary fashion! I tried to understand why and it occurred to me that perhaps having come from a colony I have yearnings for that lost time! ... Indeed when I 1st arrived in England, whilst I very quickly, along with determination, accepted and worked at my new status!! However when, as they often did, programs on the box were focused on Southern Africa .. my mind would wander & I would feel as though I could, for instance, smell the odors remembered! I thought I had rationalized these feelings and buried them!! It was when I saw Kipling was actually borne in Mumbai ~ that I knew I felt, and probably still do, just as he talks of the soldiers feeling for a lost love and land. Phew!..