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By Root 4718 0

I had seen it before—one in time, one in place—and I saw plainly the River of the Arrow at my feet. At that hour my Soul was hampered by some evil or other whereof I was not wholly cleansed, and it lay upon my arms and coiled round my waist; but I put it aside, and I cast forth as an eagle in my flight for the very place of the River. I pushed aside world upon world for thy sake. I saw the River below me—the River of the Arrow—and, descending, the waters of it closed over me; and behold I was again in the body of Teshoo Lama, but free from sin, and the hakim from Dacca bore up my head in the waters of the River. It is here! It is behind the mango-tope here—even here!’

‘Allah kerim! Oh, well that the Babu was by! Wast thou very wet?’

‘Why should I regard? I remember the hakim was concerned for the body of Teshoo Lama. He haled it out of the holy water in his hands, and there came afterwards thy horse-seller from the North with a cot and men, and they put the body on the cot and bore it up to the Sahiba’s house.’

‘What said the Sahiba?’

‘I was meditating in that body, and did not hear. So thus the Search is ended. For the merit that I have acquired, the River of the Arrow is here. It broke forth at our feet, as I have said. I have found it. Son of my Soul, I have wrenched my Soul back from the Threshold of Freedom to free thee from all sin—as I am free, and sinless! Just is the Wheel! Certain is our deliverance! Come!’

He crossed his hands on his lap and smiled, as a man may who has won salvation for himself and his beloved.

THE END

Inspired by Kim

Rudyard Kipling’s masterpiece, Kim, was made into a lavish, MGM-PRODUCED film in 1950. Directed by Victor Saville and starring screen legend Errol Flynn, Kim is an adventure brimming with gorgeous landscapes (much of the film was shot on location in India) and memorable characters who establish themselves quickly. Flynn brings his swashbuckling talents to bear as Kim’s mentor, Mahbub Ali. Posing as an Afghan horse trader, Flynn cuts the perfect British secret agent, albeit one perhaps past his prime. The eponymous hero is played by a young and wily Dean Stockwell, who portrays the privileged orphan with charm and intelligence, making Kim a convincing candidate for the spy apprenticeship for which he is fated. Roaming the land and disguised as a native Indian, Kim befriends Mahbub Ali and soon finds himself immersed in the clandestine and dangerous world of the “Great Game”—British colonial and military espionage—in which he must risk his life to gather information about the Russian forces out to conquer India for the czar.

Saville remains largely faithful to Kipling’s text, though sometimes at the expense of the rollicking pace expected of adventure dramas, giving ample attention to the character of the aging lama, played by Paul Lukas. Saville conveys the mystique of nineteenth-century India with beautiful costumes and sets, all dressed in sparkling Technicolor. The film features a score by famed composer André Previn.

John Howard Davies’s adaptation of Kim, which aired on television in 1984, was also shot on location in India. In this version, Kim is a street urchin living hand to mouth in Lahore. Ravi Sheth portrays Kim as streetwise teenager, but one who is ultimately kindhearted. Kim must weigh his two possible futures: one as the disciple of a wizened Buddhist monk, played impeccably by Peter O’Toole, and the other as a spy among horses, led by Mahbub Ali (Bryan Brown) . The drama ensues as the toughened Ali cannot seem to get along with the lama, who will not be ruffled, while Kim, searching for his true identity, learns that he is the son of a soldier who deserted from the British Maverick Regiment. Davies’s Kim, which also features John Rhys-Davies (of The Lord of the Rings trilogy) as Babu and Julian Glover as Colonel Creighton, is a thought-provoking portrait of 1890s India at the height of the British Raj.

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