Editing The English Patient (section)

===Kip===
[[Image:Triumph 3HW 350cc motorcycle.jpg|thumb|right|[[Triumph Engineering|Triumph]] 3HW 350cc motorcycle used by Kip in the novel]]
Kirpal (Kip) Singh is an Indian Sikh who has volunteered with the British military for sapper bomb disposal training under Lord Suffolk. This act of patriotism is not shared by his [[Indian nationalist]] brother; the scepticism of his unit's white peers discourages a sense of community for Kip.

Lord Suffolk, an eccentric English nobleman, has developed techniques to dismantle complicated, unexploded bombs in what is a very dangerous occupation. Kip feels a sense of belonging in a community when he is welcomed into the Suffolk household and regards Lord Suffolk as a father figure. Lord Suffolk and his sapper team are killed while attempting to dismantle a new type of bomb. Their deaths cause Kip's emotional withdrawal to become more pronounced. [[Charles Howard, 20th Earl of Suffolk]], was a real person who did dismantle bombs and was killed while attempting to dismantle one.

Kip is transferred to another unit in Italy where he and his partner hear a piano playing. As they enter the villa, they come across Hana while she is playing on a piano during a thunderstorm. Kip stays on at the villa to clear any remaining unexploded bombs, mines, or other booby-traps. Kip feels a sense of community and confidence when he becomes Hana's lover. Kip sees the interactions of the Westerners at the villa as those of a group that disregards nationality. They get together and celebrate Hana's twenty-first birthday, a symbol of their friendship and Kip's acceptance. However, when he learns of the [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|nuclear bombing of Hiroshima]] Kip is thoroughly shocked. He leaves immediately while Caravaggio reflects that Westerners would never use such a weapon on their own race.<ref>{{cite AV media |title=Bookclub {{!}} Michael Ondaatje - The English Patient |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b01lh973 |website=BBC |date=5 August 2012|access-date=8 November 2020 |time=21:21}}</ref> Kip goes back to India and never returns, he marries and has two children though he never stops recalling the effect of Hana in his life.