Originally published 1890 Adaptations Gunga Din (1939) | ||
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Similar Works by Rudyard Kipling, Other books | ||
"Gunga Din" is an 1892 poem by Rudyard Kipling, set in British India. It was the inspiration for a 1939 film of the same title.
Contents
Rudyard kipling gunga din poem animation
Background
The poem is a rhyming narrative from the point of view of an English soldier in India, about an Indian water-bearer (a bhishti) who saves the soldier's life but is soon shot and killed. In the final three lines, the soldier regrets the abuse he dealt to Din and admits that Din is the better man of the two. The poem was published as one of the set of martial poems called the Barrack-Room Ballads.
In contrast to Kipling's later poem "The White Man's Burden", "Gunga Din" (/ˌɡʌŋɡə ˈdin/) is named after the Indian, portraying him as a heroic character who is not afraid to face danger on the battlefield as he tends to wounded men. The English 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 /ˈdin/ to rhyme with "green".
Adaptations
The poem inspired a 1939 adventure film of the same name from RKO Pictures starring Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Joan Fontaine, and Sam Jaffe in the title role.
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.. Many elements of the 1939 film were also incorporated into Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
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".