MUNSHI PREMCHAND

MUNSHI PREMCHAND
A pioneer of modern Hindi and Urdu social fiction, Munshi Premchandâs real name was Dhanpat Rai. He wrote nearly 300 stories and novels. Among his best known novels are: Sevasadan, Rangmanch, Gaban, Nirmala and Godan. Much of Premchandâs best work is to be found among his 250 or so short stories, collected in Hindi under the title Manasarovar.Three of his novels have been made into films.Premchandâs literary career started as a freelancer in Urdu. He was born at Lamahi near Banaras (now Varanasi) on 31st July,1880. His father Munshi Ajaib Lal was a clerk in the postal department. Premchandâs early education was in a madarsa under a maulvi, where he learnt Urdu. Premchand was only eight years old when his mother died. His grandmother took the responsibility of raising him but she too died soon. He was married when he was 15 and in the 9th grade . His father also died and after passing the intermediate he had to stop his study. He got a job as a teacher in the primary school. In 1919, he passed his B.A., with English, Persian and History. After a series of promotions he became Deputy Inspectors of Schools. In response to Mahatma Gandhiâs call of non-cooperation with the British he quit his job. After that he devoted his full attention to writing. His first story appeared in the magazine Zamana published from Kanpur.In his early short stories he depicted the patriotic upsurge that was sweeping the land in the first decade of the past century. Soz-e-Watan, a collection of patriotic stories published by Premchand in 1907, attracted the attention of the British Government In 1914, when Premchand switched over to Hindi, he had already established his reputation as a fiction writer in Urdu. While writing Urdu novels and short stories he emphasised in presenting the realities of life and he made the Indian villages his theme of writing. His novels describe the problems of the urban middle-class and the countryâs villages and their problems. He also emphasised on the Hindu-Muslim unity. His famous works include Godan, Maidan-e-Amal, Bay-wah, Chaugaan etc.It would not be wrong to say that Premchand was the Father of Urdu short- stories. Short stories or afsanas were started by Premchand. As with his novels, his afsanas also mirror the society that he lived in. With a simple and flowing writing some of his works depict excellent use of satire and humour. His later works used very simple words and he started including Hindi words too to honestly potray his characters. His famous afsanas are Qaatil Ki Maan, Zewar Ka Dibba, Gilli Danda, Eidgaah, Namak Ka Daroga and Kafan. His collected stories have been published as Prem Pachisi, Prem Battisi, Wardaat and Zaad-e-Raah. Premchand was the first Hindi author to introduce realism in his writings. He pioneered the new form - fiction with a social purpose.He supplemented Gandhijiâs work in the political and social fields by adopting his revolutionary ideas as themes for his literary writings. Besides being a great novelist,Premchand was also a social reformer and thinker.His greatness lies in the fact that his writings embody social purpose and social criticism rather than mere entertainment. Literature according to him is a powerful means of educating public opinion.He believed in social evolution and his ideal was equal opportunities for all.Premchand died in 1936 and has since been studied both in India and abroad as one of the greatest writers of the century.

Adaptations of Premchand's works

Satyajit Ray filmed two of Premchand's works– Sadgati and Shatranj Ke Khiladi. Sadgati (Salvation) is a short story revolving around poor Dukhi, who dies of exhaustion while hewing wood for a paltry favor. Shatranj ke Khiladi (The Chess Players) revolved around the decadence ofnawabi Lucknow, where the obsession with a game consumes the players, making them oblivious of their responsibilities in the midst of a crisis.

Sevasadan (first published in 1918) was made into a film with M.S. Subbulakshmi in the lead role. The novel is set in Varanasi, the holy city of Hindus. Sevasadan ("House of Service") is an institute built for the daughters of courtesans. The lead of the novel is a beautiful, intelligent and talented girl called Suman. She belongs to a high caste. She is married to a much older, tyrannical man. She realizes that a loveless marriage is just like prostitution except that there is only one client. Bholi, a courtesan, lives opposite Suman. Suman realizes that Bholi is "outside purdah", while she is "inside it". Suman leaves her husband and becomes a successful entertainer of gentlemen. But after a brief period of success, she ends up as a victim of a political drama played out by self-righteous Hindu social reformers and moralists.

Premchand also worked with the film director Himanshu Rai of Bombay Talkies, one of the founders of Bollywood.

The Actor Factor Theatre Company, a young Delhi based theatre group, staged Kafan in 2010 in New Delhi. It is an original stage adaptation of Premchand's short story. Kafan is a dark comedy. In the play, puppetry is explored to depict the tussle between two classes and the plight of Budhia, who is caught in the crossfire. Bleakness of hope in the story and awfulness of the father-son duo find a delicate balance. At times the situations break into morbid humor. In the end a wine-house becomes the stage for Ghisu (father) and Madhav's (son) rebellious dance, defying not only the laws of the land but also that of the Gods.