"Gunga Din" (/ˌɡʌŋɡəˈdiːn/) is an 1890 poem byRudyard Kipling set inBritish India.The poem was published alongside "Mandalay" and "Danny Deever" in the collection "Barrack-Room Ballads".
The poem is much remembered for its final line "You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din".[1]
Though I've belted you and flayed you,
By the livin' Gawd that made you,
You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din![2]
The poem is a rhyming narrative from the point of view ofa British soldier in India. Its eponymous character is an Indian water-carrier (abhishti) who, after the narrator is wounded in battle, saves his life, only to be shot and killed. In the final three lines, the soldier regrets the abuse that he dealt to Din and admits that Din is the better man. The poem was published as part of a set of martial poems called theBarrack-Room Ballads.
In contrast to Kipling's later poem "The White Man's Burden", "Gunga Din" is named after the Indian and portrays him as a heroic character who is not afraid to face danger on the battlefield as he tends to wounded men. The white soldiers who order Din around and beat him for not bringing water to them fast enough are presented as being callous and shallow and ultimately inferior to him.
Although "Din" is frequently pronounced to rhyme with "pin", the rhymes within the poem make it clear that it should be pronounced/ˈdiːn/, to rhyme with "green".
T. S. Eliot included the poem in his 1941 collectionA Choice of Kipling's Verse.
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The poem inspired the 1939 adventure filmGunga Din fromRKO Pictures, starringSam Jaffe in the title role, along withCary Grant,Victor McLaglen,Douglas Fairbanks Jr., andJoan Fontaine. This movie was remade in 1961 asSergeants 3, starring theRat Pack withSammy Davis Jr. as the Gunga Din character, in which the locale was moved from British-colonial India to the old West.[3] Many elements of the 1939 film were also incorporated intoIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.[4] The filmThree Kings, set during theGulf War of 1990–1991, also has many resemblances, including a "heist theme", to the filmGunga Din.
Grantland Rice's 1917 column describingHeinie Zimmerman's infamous World Series gaffe wherein Zimmerman futilely chased speedster Eddie Collins across home plate (rather than initiating arundown by tossing the ball to a player covering home) ended with "I'm a faster man than you are, Heinie Zim."[5]
Robert Sheckley's short story "Human Man's Burden" (1956, anthologized inPilgrimage to Earth) alludes to the story by featuring a robotic servant named Gunga Sam, programmed to behave in a manner similar to the stereotypical colonial native servant. While stated to have no soul, he ultimately proves to be no less human and wise than his owner in actions.
In 1958,Bobby Darin wrote and recorded the song "That's the Way Love Is" in which, referring to the unsolved riddle of love, he sings "And if ya come up with the answer, You're a better man, sir, than I ... Gunga Din".[6]
In 1964 Duane Hiatt and the group The 3Ds released an album of classic poetry set to music, including Gunga Din, with lyrics almost word for word from Kipling's poem.[7]
SongwriterJim Croce set the words to music as "The Ballad of Gunga Din" and released it on his 1966Facets album.
InCarry On Up the Khyber (1968), part of theCarry On series of British comedy films, the rebel warrior chief is called Bungdit Din (Bernard Bresslaw), a parody of Gunga Din. In a scene where he boasts of wiping out the Khyber Pass garrison, the "Khazi of Kalabar" (Kenneth Williams) replies: "You're a better man than me, Bungdit Din."
In 1996, the animated television seriesAnimaniacs featured a segment called "Gunga Dot", in which the "Warner Sister" Dot has a job serving water to the patrons of a resort in a boiling hot desert nearBombay. After growing tired of the constant complaining, she releases the valve on theWarner Bros. Water Tower, which placates the guests and somehow creates theIndian Ocean.[8]
In 2015,The Libertines, an English rock band, composed the single "Gunga Din" for their comeback albumAnthems for Doomed Youth. The verse "You are a better man than I am" is used throughout the lyrics.
The full text of"Gunga Din" at Wikisource