Munshi Premchand: A Life Sketch

"अभिव्यक्ति" प्रस्तुति

Premchand lived from 1880 to 1936 and can justly lay claim to the title of the best Hindi fiction writer ever. He was born on31 July 1880 in a small village, Lamhi, near Varanasi.His parents named him Dhanpat Rai. He started writing at a young age. Initially, he wrote in Urdu. Later, he wrote in Hindi.
Munshi Premchand was the son of a postal clerk. He lost his mother when he was very young. Just 7 years. And at the ageof 14, he lost his father. With his father's demise, young Premchand took over the responsibility of earning bread for the family. In the face of great economic hardship, he matriculated.He then found employment as a schoolmaster in small village schools.While working, Premchand continued his studies and completed his F.A. (parallel to A-levels) and his B.A. He was keen on doing his Masters in Literature, but circumstances in life prevented him from doing so.
In 1921, influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's call to leave Government jobs, Premchand resigned from his schoolmaster's job.He was in dire economic straits. Yet, he gave up his 23 year old secure if low-paying Government job. In this decision, his wife willingly supported him.For a few months after that, he worked for a private school inKanpur. He could not keep his job, because he was too principled and was the victim of office politics. He resigned fromthere and left for Varanasi where he taught at the Kashi Vidyapithafor a few months, and edited 'Maryada'.
He then left for Lucknow where he edited 'Madhuri'. Both 'Maryada' and 'Madhuri' were literary magazines with low circulation, high quailty content and anuncertain future.In a few years, he shifted back to Varanasi to launch his ownliterary magazine, 'Hans'. Sometime later, he launched 'Jagaran' aswell. But both magazines were loss-making enterprises.
At a certain point in time Premchand was so heavily in debt because of editing these magazines, he had to wind up operations and shift baggage to Mumbai.He had come to Mumbai to write for the Hindi film industry. But here he was constantly being asked to compromise on his storyline and the integrity of his characters to suit the whims of film producers.Premchand refused to make such manipulations, which would hurt the flow of his story. Hence, deeply disappointed, he made his wayback to Varanasi, still struggling against the onset of bankruptcy.
While in Mumbai, Premchand had fallen ill and soon after getting back to Varanasi, he died of ascitis on 8 October, 1936.He was given the highest accolade of his time, when he was referred to as "Upanyas Samrat". He wrote novels, short stories,essays and children's fiction. All that he wrote, has stood the testof time, and nearly seventy after his death, Premchand is still one of India's best-read authors. His novels, in particular GODAN,NIRMALA and GHABAN; are hugely popular. His short stories,brought together under the title MANSAROVAR generatetremendous enthusiasm amongst readers until date.Premchand has been translated in many languages, there are100s of Ph.D.s awarded on his works every year.
There is noUniversity in India and abroad, where Hindi literature is taughtand Premchand is not an important part of the syllabus.Premchand wrote in a very direct and simple style, and his words made their own magic. His protagonists were always the people he observed around him. His knowledge of the human psychology,and his appreciation of the ironies of life made him a stellar writer.In keeping with his clean-cut style and lucid manner, readingPremchand is a great pleasure! His prose is precise, hisdescriptions succinct.Premchand lived in an era of great social turmoil for India.
He saw traditional village independence being destroyed by the colonisers.He saw how the traditional system of the Indian Undivided Familywas falling apart with the pressures of increased centralisation of jobsin urban centres. He also noted the fallout of large-scale urbanisationand the consequent materialistic and acquisitional tendencies ittriggered off. His stories and novel faithfully record and analyse these tendencies through the trials and tribulations of his protagonists.Premchand observed keenly the psychology of a child, brought up in poverty.
In his short story EIDGAH, the hero, a small boy from a poor family, goes with his relatively well-to-do friends. He has a very small amount of money to spare. Instead of blowing it on funand toys, he buys a "chimta" for his old grandmother, who used toburn her fingers on the hot iron "tava".
His novel GODAN tells the story of a poor man, bound by the society, exploited by the privileged class and his soul-destroying travails. His protagonists are often exploited, but never unjustthemselves, and retain their humanity. The badi bahuria, in BADE GHAR KI BAHU, despite longing to eat a halfway decent meal,gives it to the postman, who is actually the bearer of bad news.When the postman tries to decline, she says that she will eat somebathua saag and manage.Each novel, each story of Premchand reassures us that humanity isalive and well. That circumstances may be grim, but there is a god somewhere, and things are not so bad as they may seem.Premchand sees goodness in every human being, and hencedescribes people aptly.
The most mean and vicious character will suffer the occasional qualm of conscience, like Vaidya Lala Shankardas (AMAVASYA KI RAAT). And the most naivecharacter is not without heroism.The protagonist of GHABAN is out to impress his newly wed wife.His tale of plight is told with understanding and empathy. The reader feels a part of Premchand's stories. All his fictional characters are real.They are living and breathing. Not just, blank ink on white paper. His character Moteram Shastri (MOTEREMAJI SHASTRI), the gluttonous pandit, is as greedy and unscrupulous as Pandit Durganath(PACHHTAVA) is honest and principled.Had Premchand been born in America or Europe, he would havecertainly won the Nobel Prize for Literature and a knighthood too!
I am proud to state that we had the privilege of being the firstpublishers of what is perhaps the greatest novel ever written inHindi - Godan.So come, be a part of the experience. Read Munshi Premchandto discover perceptive yet simple writing and lucid style.Prose writing at its very best.