Gunga Din

"Gunga Din" is an 1890 poem by Rudyard Kipling set in British India. The poem is much remembered for its final line: "You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din".[1]

This article is about the poem. For other uses, see Gunga Din (disambiguation).

Background

  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]

"Gunga Din", lines 82-84
View the full poem on Wikisource

The poem is a rhyming narrative from the point of view of a British soldier in India. Its titular character is an Indian water-carrier (a bhishti) 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 the Barrack-Room Ballads.

In contrast to Kipling's later poem "The White Man's Burden", "Gunga Din" (/ˌɡʌŋɡə ˈdiːn/) 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 them water 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 collection A Choice of Kipling's Verse.

The poem inspired a 1939 adventure film of the same name from RKO Pictures starring Sam Jaffe in the title role, along with Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Joan Fontaine. Many elements of the 1939 film were also incorporated into Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.[3] The film Three Kings (1999 film), set during the Gulf War of 1990-1991, also has many resemblances, including a "heist theme", to the film Gunga Din.

The movie was remade in 1961 as Sergeants 3, starring the Rat Pack. The locale was moved from British-colonial India to the old West. The Gunga Din character was played in this film by Sammy Davis Jr..[4]

Robert Sheckley's short story "Human Man's Burden" (1956, anthologized in Pilgrimage 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".[5]

In 1962, Sonny Gianotta recorded "The Last Blast of the Blasted Bugler," a comedic retelling of the story. [6]

An animated version featuring Jim Backus was made in 1964, as part of The Famous Adventures of Mr Magoo. It is the third episode of the series.

The English singer Peter Bellamy included a setting of the poem on his record of Barrack Room Ballads.

In 1966, songwriter Jim Croce set the words to music and released it on his Facets album.

In 1996, the animated television series Animaniacs 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 near Bombay. After growing tired of the constant complaining, she releases the valve on the Warner Bros. Water Tower, which placates the guests and somehow creates the Indian Ocean. [7]

In 2001, Hellboy says in "Conqueror Worm" goodbye to Roger with the last lines of Gunga Din.

In 2015, The Libertines, an English rock band, composed the single "Gunga Din" for their comeback album Anthems for Doomed Youth.The verse "You are a better man than I am" is used throughout the lyrics.

Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H made multiple references to "Gunga Din".

Alan Moore's Watchmen features a restaurant called the Gunga Diner.

Several references are made to the poem in the series Downton Abbey by several characters including Lord Grantham portrayed by Hugh Bonneville.

See also
  • No Heaven for Gunga Din, with a similar theme about the treatment of native servants by colonial military officers.

References
  1. "Gunga Din by Rudyard Kipling". Poetry Foundation. 31 March 2018.
  2. Kipling, Rudyard (1940). Rudyard Kipling's Verse (Definitive ed.). Garden City, NY: Doubleday. pp. 404–406. OCLC 225762741.
  3. Jaap van Ginnekan,  Screening Difference: How Hollywood's Blockbuster Films Imagine Race, Ethnicity, and Culture, p. 143. ISBN 978-0-7425-5584-6 "Spielberg conceded that Gunga Din was one of the major sources of inspiration for the second Indiana Jones movie, and it does indeed contain many of the same elements."
  4. French, Philip (14 July 2007). "Philip French's DVD club: No 79: Gunga Din". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  5. "BobbyDarin.com: That's The Way Love Is". www.bobbydarin.com.
  6. Allmusic listing: https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-last-blast-of-the-blasted-bugler-mw0001002737
  7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSpv2tdMBvE

Sources
  • George Robinson: "Gunga Din" (article on the 1939 Hollywood film). Soldiers of the Queen (journal of the Victorian Military Society). September 1994.
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