A tall stooping elderly gentleman sat down beside me. I gave him a quick glance noting his swarthy features heavy moustache and hornrimmed spectacles. There was something familiar and disturbing about his face and I couldnt resist looking at him again. I noticed that he was smiling at me. The Man Who Was Kipling is a collection of stories which should be on the mustread list of every reader. We are introduced to a man in a museum in London who claims to be the ghost of Rudyard Kipling. Then there is a schoolboys encounter with a mysterious woman while waiting for their trains to arrive. We have an inspector pitting his wits against a murder mystery and a writer who always takes the same route into the city to catch a glimpse of a balcony belonging to a past love. And then there is the timeless classic Sita and the River that will tug at your heartstrings. Through this collection Ruskin Bond has us enthralled yet again with his effortless storytelling of these tales and more.