Arithmetic on the Frontier

A scrimmage in a Border Station

A canter down some dark defile
Two thousand pounds of education
Drops to a ten-rupee Jezail
The Crammer’s boast, the Squadron’s pride
Shot like a rabbit in a ride

No proposition Euclid wrote
No formulae the textbooks know
Will the turn the bullet from your coat
Or ward the Tulwar’s downward blow
Strike hard who cares -- shoot straight who can
The odds are on the cheaper man

“Arithmetic on the Frontier”
-- Rudyard Kipling, 1886

Today, while in a side bar meeting, I saw this verse written on a white board. No one in the room knew who wrote it and, despite a lot of other writing on other whiteboards, no one wanted to erase it. I scribbled it down in my notebook.

This excerpt from Kipling’s poem describing British casualties in their war with Afghanistan is clear: you’re never too smart to get killed by someone dumber, wielding a cheaper weapon than you. Kipling might as well have been describing Improvised Explosive Devices or suicide bombers.

Strike hard, then. Shoot straight. Good advice, Mr. Kipling.

(ETA: Thanks to my friend, Mark W. for providing the link to the full poem.)