Khushwant Singh died at the young age of 95 years. He was a prolific Indian writer, famed journalist, well known author and acknowledged tippler!! A man who lived his life to the fullest.
Update: When I discovered this poem, it said it had been written by him at the age of 92, but I received the below message regarding it from Patrick Schiermeyer:
This site claims Khushwant Singh wrote poem: “The horse and mule….” at age 92. He died in 2014 so the poem was supposedly written in 2010-2011 timeframe. This cannot be true. I have a copy of this poem I received in 1978 while working in Saudi Arabia. He may have written it earlier or it may be incorrectly attributed to him.
I did some further research, and this is the comment I sent back to Patrick:
Patrick, I spent about a half hour trying to run this poem down after reading your comment. I can’t find it associated with anyone else’s name but his so I’m wondering if he sent it as a New Year’s greeting and people took it that he had written it. I saw one other person post it without attribution and the most posts saying he had written it. I agree now that you have pointed it out that he could not have written it at least at the time he is said to have written it. If you know when he did write it, or who else did, I’d appreciate the correction. Thanks.
So, if anyone has further information about the author of the below piece and when it was written, I would appreciate knowing the full story of its origin.
On July 17, 2021, I received this message from Shristi: “It was written by Charles Gavan Duffy, an Irish poet. Mr Khushwant Singh Sir had just quoted it.”
I checked this out and he is right. Thanks, Shristi, for finally solving this mystery!!!! This poem has been quoted so often and attributed to Khushwant Singh. Thanks for setting the record right. Below is the poem:
The horse and the mule live for 30 years,
And know nothing of wines and beers;
The goat and sheep at 20 die,
And never get a taste of Scotch and rye.
The cow drinks water by the tonne
And at 18 is mostly done
Without the aid of gin and rum.
The cat in milk and water soaks,
And then in 12 short years it croaks.
The modest, sober, bone-dry hen
Lays eggs for others, then dies at 10.
All animals are strictly dry,
They sinless live and swiftly die.
But sinful, ginful, rum-soaked men
Survive for three score years and ten,
And some of them, though very few,
Stay pickled till they’re 92!
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 
So to this thought I raise a toast
acknowledging your terrific post.
And raise a glass of chardonnay
Wishing you a happy day.
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Ha! I knew that would rouse a few. I’ll raise an anejo rum with Caffeine free Coca Cola Lite to your chardonnay! Sounds like a bit of a wimpy drink, doesn’t it? Perhaps I should just confess to a generic rum and Coke????
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P.S. I love it when I rouse a viewer to poetry! It’s a bit like a Busby Berkeley movie with characters bursting out into a conversation of rhyme and song in answer to each other!!! Or were his just the musical production numbers? Perhaps it is more like opera. Others of your ilk are Leland and Anton and I believe Susan and others may have gotten the bug as well.It would be fun to have an invitational challenge starting with two rhymed lines and having each person add two in sequence. Perhaps I’ll organize this one day, right after the garage cabinets!!!
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“A New Year Poem by Khuswant Singh”
Describes my family, tells it all, everything.
Most were not picky but a shot included a beer
Ale was a girly drink, men sipped 190 proof EVERCLEAR.
Better to be greedy than offer Uncle Ed first drink.
Your newly opened pint will be gone in a wink.
Big Ed makes a awful, distasteful, disgusting face.
Then drains the last of your pint like it was a race.
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Remember grain alcohol? I think perhaps it was the same as Everclear. I used it to make liqueurs at Xmas time. I once poured a bottle into a very hot brew of simple syrup and coffee (making Kahlua) and the fumes knocked me to the floor!
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I think South Dakota is one of the last places you can buy it. Everclear is the name, 190 proof grain alcohol.
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We used to be able to buy it in Wyoming as well. That’s where I started to make the liqueurs. I made them in CA also, but perhaps had to just use vodka. Can’t remember. They were diluted considerably by water, sugar and flavorings so the final result was a much lower alcohol rate.
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Years ago in this country a lot of drinking was done right out of the bottle, another uncle of mine took a drink of Everclear out of the bottle once, I thought he would die right on the spot, this fumes make your throat slam shut. He was choking and gagging, didn’t try it again.
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This site claims Khushwant Singh wrote poem: “The horse and mule….” at age 92. He died in 2014 so the poem was supposedly written in 2010-2011 timeframe. This cannot be true. I have a copy of this poem I received in 1978 while working in Saudi Arabia. He may have written it earlier or it may be incorrectly attributed to him.
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Thanks, Patrick. I’ll check it out..
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Patrick, I spent about a half hour trying to run this poem down after reading your comment. I can’t find it associated with anyone else’s name but his so I’m wondering if he sent it as a New Year’s greeting and people took it that he had written it. I saw one other person post it without attribution and the most posts saying he had written it. I agree now that you have pointed it out that he could not have written it. If you know who did, I’d appreciate the correction. Thanks.
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This has been attributed variously to an English humorist and to ‘Anonymous’ at an Irish pub. A framed copy has been hanging in the bar of the Madras Cricket Club since I became a member about 40 years ago, when Khushwant Singh must have been in his 60s!
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Yes, I’ve heard many times that this isn’t really by Khushwant Singh..I wonder if we’ll ever know. But I enjoy hearing the stories of where and when people have read it and the speculations about who wrote it. Thanks for commenting and Happy New year.
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http://www.cocktailchronicles.com/2005/08/31/longevity/
On the back cover of the 1937 bartending manual “Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ‘Em”, by Stanley Clisby Arthur, there’s a bit of drinking-related doggerel attributed to George C. Wailes, entitled Longevity.
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Probably has no rhyme ever been attributed to so many! Probably, the truth will never be known, but fun hearing all the possible origins. Thanks for your contribution.
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It was written by Charles Gavan Duffy, an Irish poet. Mr Khushwant Singh Sir had just quoted it.
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Thanks so much, Srishti. You are absolutely right. I’ve corrected the original post to reflect this. I owe you one.
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I know this is an old post, but my husband used to recite this poem on occasion at cocktail parties back in the 1960’s. He told me he had learned it when he was a kid in the 1940’s.
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I was at a concert once and heard Leon Redbone sing a song I always thought my father had made up. Only other time I heard it sung…
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