By Muskan Batra
Munshi Premchand was one of India’s greatest writer of the earlier twentieth century. He was a novelist, short story writer, and dramatist who wrote over a dozen novels, hundreds of short stories, and numerous essays. He also translated a number of literary works of other languages into Hindi. What Shakespeare is to English Literature, Premchand is to Hindi.
HIS LIFE
Premchand was born as Dhanpat Rai Srivastav on 31 July 1880 in Lamhi, a village near Varanasi, in British India. His father was a post office clerk and mother was a housewife. He received his early education at a madrasa in Lalpur where he learned Urdu and Persian. He learned English at a missionary school later. His father remarried soon when his mother died when he was just eight years old. He did not have good relations with his step-mother and had a very sad childhood. He sought peace in books and became an avid reader. He was just 15 and was still studying in school when married a girl selected by his grandfather. He did not get along with his wife and soon his wife left him. No efforts were made by Premchand to bring her back. His father too died in 1897 so he had to discontinue his studies. Now he had the responsibility of his stepmother and step-siblings. He married a child widow in 1906. This step was considered a very revolutionary step at that time, and he had to face a lot of hostility. This marriage was a loving one and they had three children. Munshi (Munshi was a title given to people who achieved mastery in over languages in British India) was the honorary prefix given to him because of his work. He died on 8 October 1936, after several days of sickness and while still in office.
CAREER
After a few struggling years of teaching tuitions, Premchand became an assistant teacher at a government school in Bahraich in 1900. Around this time, he also started writing fiction. In the beginning, he wrote under the pseudonym "Nawab Rai" and wrote his first short novel, Asrar e Ma'abid which explores corruption among temple priests and their sexual exploitation of poor women. The novel was later published in a series in a Benares-based Urdu weekly newspaper for 2 years. In the next few years, he wrote many articles and stories for the magazine called Zamana. His stories encouraged the general public to participate in India’s struggle for freedom from British colonial rule. Soz-e-Watan was the title of his first short story collection which included these stories. The collection came to the notice of the British officials who banned it. This made Dhanpat Rai change his pen name from "Nawab Rai" to "Premchand" to escape the tyranny of the British. By the mid-1910s he had become a prominent writer in Urdu and in 1914, he also started writing in Urdu. Premchand became an Assistant Master at a high school in Gorakhpur in 1916. He published his first major Hindi novel Seva Sadan in 1919. It was well received by the critics, and it helped him gain wider recognition.
Despite being a Deputy Inspector of Schools and having a family to look after, he decided to quit his job to support the non-cooperation movement.
After quitting his job, he moved to Benares (Varanasi) and focused on his literary career. He started a printing press and publishing house called Saraswati Press in 1923 and published the novels Nirmala (1925) and Pratigya (1927). Both the novels dealt with social issues related to women like dowry system and widow remarriage. In 1931, he became a teacher at a college in Kanpur. This job, however, did not last long and he had to leave because of differences with the college administration. He went back to Benares and became an editor of a magazine and also briefly served as a headmaster of a school.
In order to strengthen his deteriorating financial condition, he went to Mumbai in 1934 and became a scriptwriter for a production house. He wrote the script for the film Mazdoor in which he also made a cameo appearance. The film showed the miserable conditions of the labor class and urged the workers in many establishments to stand up against the owners and was thus banned. The commercial environment of the Mumbai film industry did not suit him. He moved to Benares in 1935 where he published the short story Kafan (1936) and the novel Godan (1936) which were among the last works he completed.
WRITING STYLE
Premchand’s writings were widely read because of his interesting storytelling and the usage of common man’s language. His novels focus on the problems of the rural peasants and the issues faced by women. He used a dialect which was easy for common people to understand unlike the other Hindi writers of the time, who used highly Sanskritized Hindi.
He called literature a work that expresses the truths and experiences of life impressively. At the Progressive Writers' Conference in Lucknow in 1936, he said that attaching the word "Progressive" to a writer was redundant, because "a writer or an artist is progressive by nature, if this was not his/her nature, he/she would not be a writer at all."
Before Premchand, Hindi literature was confined to the general raja-rani (king and queen) tales, the stories of magical powers and other such escapist fantasies. It was all denying the reality and living in an imaginary world until Premchand popped the bubble. Premchand wrote on the realistic issues of the day - communalism, corruption, zamindari, debt, poverty, colonialism etc.
Many of his stories reflected his own experiences with poverty and misery. His stories represented the ordinary Indian people as they were, without any embellishments. Unlike many other contemporary writers, his works didn't have any "Hero" or "Mr. Nice" – he described people as they were.
MAJOR WORKS
Eidgah, Kafan, Namak Ka Daroga, Gilli-danda, and Zewar Ka Dibba, Bade Ghar Ki Beti are some of his famous works among others. He had written 16 novels and more than 100 short stories. Many of his stories have been published in a number of collections, including the 8-volume Mansarovar (1900-1936).
Several of his works were later adapted into movies, series, and plays. Satyajit Ray made Sadgati and Shatranj Ke Khiladi based on Premchand’s works. Guldasta, Teheer are some famous series based on his works.
His novel, Godan, is considered one of the greatest Hindustani novels of modern Indian literature. The novel explores several themes such as caste segregation in India, exploitation of the lower classes, exploitation of women, and the problems posed by industrialization. The book was later translated into English and also made into a Hindi film in 1963.
He has also translated the works of writers like Charles Dickens, Leo Tolstoy, Oscar Wilde, John Galsworthy etc.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND LEGACY
Premchand was elected as the first President of the Progressive Writers' Association in Lucknow, in 1936. The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, established the Premchand Fellowships in his honor in 2005. It is given to persons of eminence in the field of culture from SAARC countries.
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HIS LIFE
Premchand was born as Dhanpat Rai Srivastav on 31 July 1880 in Lamhi, a village near Varanasi, in British India. His father was a post office clerk and mother was a housewife. He received his early education at a madrasa in Lalpur where he learned Urdu and Persian. He learned English at a missionary school later. His father remarried soon when his mother died when he was just eight years old. He did not have good relations with his step-mother and had a very sad childhood. He sought peace in books and became an avid reader. He was just 15 and was still studying in school when married a girl selected by his grandfather. He did not get along with his wife and soon his wife left him. No efforts were made by Premchand to bring her back. His father too died in 1897 so he had to discontinue his studies. Now he had the responsibility of his stepmother and step-siblings. He married a child widow in 1906. This step was considered a very revolutionary step at that time, and he had to face a lot of hostility. This marriage was a loving one and they had three children. Munshi (Munshi was a title given to people who achieved mastery in over languages in British India) was the honorary prefix given to him because of his work. He died on 8 October 1936, after several days of sickness and while still in office.
CAREER
After a few struggling years of teaching tuitions, Premchand became an assistant teacher at a government school in Bahraich in 1900. Around this time, he also started writing fiction. In the beginning, he wrote under the pseudonym "Nawab Rai" and wrote his first short novel, Asrar e Ma'abid which explores corruption among temple priests and their sexual exploitation of poor women. The novel was later published in a series in a Benares-based Urdu weekly newspaper for 2 years. In the next few years, he wrote many articles and stories for the magazine called Zamana. His stories encouraged the general public to participate in India’s struggle for freedom from British colonial rule. Soz-e-Watan was the title of his first short story collection which included these stories. The collection came to the notice of the British officials who banned it. This made Dhanpat Rai change his pen name from "Nawab Rai" to "Premchand" to escape the tyranny of the British. By the mid-1910s he had become a prominent writer in Urdu and in 1914, he also started writing in Urdu. Premchand became an Assistant Master at a high school in Gorakhpur in 1916. He published his first major Hindi novel Seva Sadan in 1919. It was well received by the critics, and it helped him gain wider recognition.
Despite being a Deputy Inspector of Schools and having a family to look after, he decided to quit his job to support the non-cooperation movement.
After quitting his job, he moved to Benares (Varanasi) and focused on his literary career. He started a printing press and publishing house called Saraswati Press in 1923 and published the novels Nirmala (1925) and Pratigya (1927). Both the novels dealt with social issues related to women like dowry system and widow remarriage. In 1931, he became a teacher at a college in Kanpur. This job, however, did not last long and he had to leave because of differences with the college administration. He went back to Benares and became an editor of a magazine and also briefly served as a headmaster of a school.
In order to strengthen his deteriorating financial condition, he went to Mumbai in 1934 and became a scriptwriter for a production house. He wrote the script for the film Mazdoor in which he also made a cameo appearance. The film showed the miserable conditions of the labor class and urged the workers in many establishments to stand up against the owners and was thus banned. The commercial environment of the Mumbai film industry did not suit him. He moved to Benares in 1935 where he published the short story Kafan (1936) and the novel Godan (1936) which were among the last works he completed.
WRITING STYLE
Premchand’s writings were widely read because of his interesting storytelling and the usage of common man’s language. His novels focus on the problems of the rural peasants and the issues faced by women. He used a dialect which was easy for common people to understand unlike the other Hindi writers of the time, who used highly Sanskritized Hindi.
He called literature a work that expresses the truths and experiences of life impressively. At the Progressive Writers' Conference in Lucknow in 1936, he said that attaching the word "Progressive" to a writer was redundant, because "a writer or an artist is progressive by nature, if this was not his/her nature, he/she would not be a writer at all."
Before Premchand, Hindi literature was confined to the general raja-rani (king and queen) tales, the stories of magical powers and other such escapist fantasies. It was all denying the reality and living in an imaginary world until Premchand popped the bubble. Premchand wrote on the realistic issues of the day - communalism, corruption, zamindari, debt, poverty, colonialism etc.
Many of his stories reflected his own experiences with poverty and misery. His stories represented the ordinary Indian people as they were, without any embellishments. Unlike many other contemporary writers, his works didn't have any "Hero" or "Mr. Nice" – he described people as they were.
MAJOR WORKS
Eidgah, Kafan, Namak Ka Daroga, Gilli-danda, and Zewar Ka Dibba, Bade Ghar Ki Beti are some of his famous works among others. He had written 16 novels and more than 100 short stories. Many of his stories have been published in a number of collections, including the 8-volume Mansarovar (1900-1936).
Several of his works were later adapted into movies, series, and plays. Satyajit Ray made Sadgati and Shatranj Ke Khiladi based on Premchand’s works. Guldasta, Teheer are some famous series based on his works.
His novel, Godan, is considered one of the greatest Hindustani novels of modern Indian literature. The novel explores several themes such as caste segregation in India, exploitation of the lower classes, exploitation of women, and the problems posed by industrialization. The book was later translated into English and also made into a Hindi film in 1963.
He has also translated the works of writers like Charles Dickens, Leo Tolstoy, Oscar Wilde, John Galsworthy etc.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND LEGACY
Premchand was elected as the first President of the Progressive Writers' Association in Lucknow, in 1936. The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, established the Premchand Fellowships in his honor in 2005. It is given to persons of eminence in the field of culture from SAARC countries.
http://www.modlingua.com/interns/989-muskan-batra-spanish-english.html
