UPANYAS SAMRAT

MUNSHI PREMCHAND
Munshi Premchand lived from 1880 to 1936 and can justly lay claim to the title of the best Hindi fiction writer ever. He was born on 31 July, 1880 in a small village, Lamhi, near Varanasi (U.P.). His parents named him Dhanpat Rai. He started writing at a young age. Initially, he wrote in Urdu. Later, he wrote only in Hindi. Munshi Premchand was the son of a postal clerk. He lost his mother when he was just 7 years of age. And his father at the age of 14. After his father's demise, young Premchand took over the responsibility of earning bread for the family. His love of books ensured that he managed to matriculate despite having to face debilitating economic hardships. He then found employment as a schoolmaster in small village schools. While working, Premchand continued his studies and completed his graduation in literature. He was keen on doing his Masters, but circumstances 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. Despite that, he gave up his 23 year old secure if low-paying Government job. In this decision, his was staunchly supported by his wife. For a few months after that, he worked for a private school in Kanpur. He could not keep his job because he was too principled to not become the victim of office politics. He resigned and left for Varanasi where he taught at the Kashi Vidyapitha for 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 and an uncertain future.

In a few years, he launched his own literary magazine, 'Hans'. Sometime later, he launched 'Jagaran' as well. 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 way back 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 test of time, and nearly seventy after his death, Premchand is still one of India's most widely read authors. His novels, in particular Godan, Nirmala and Ghaban; are hugely popular. His short stories, published under various titles enjoy tremendous enthusiasm among modern readers. Not surprisingly, Premchand has been translated in many languages. Hundreds of theses have been written on his oeuvre. There is no University in the world where Premchands works are not an integral part of Hindi studies. 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, reading Premchand is a great pleasure. His prose is precise, his descriptions succinct. His protagonists are sharply etched and easy to empathise with. But what has sustained his massive popularity over the past eight decades are his storytelling skills. Like John Grisham today, Premchands strength lies in the skilful portrayal of

ordinary characters leading extraordinary lives in the most mundane circumstances. What adds to Premchands universal appeal is the way he has portrayed women and the minorities. Todays political correctness cannot catch him out, for his humaneness is genuine and rings true even today. Premchand was an ethical humanist whose nuanced understanding of the human mind could capture the subtlest of emotions and make them part of the universal experience of being alive. Premchand lived in an era of great social turmoil for India. He saw traditional village independence being destroyed by the colonisers. He witnessed the gradual running down of the traditional system of the Indian Undivided Family owing to the pressure of increased centralisation of jobs in urban centres. He also noted the fallout of large-scale urbanisation and the consequent materialistic and acquisitional tendencies it triggered off. His stories and novels 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 fun and toys, he buys a "chimta" for his old grandmother, who used to burn 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 are never unjust themselves 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 some bathua saag and manage. Each novel, each story of Premchand reassures us that humanity is alive 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 hence describes people aptly. Even the most mean and vicious character will suffer the occasional qualm of conscience. And the most naive

character is not without heroism. The protagonist of Ghaban overspends heavily in a bid to impress his newlywed 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 black ink on white paper. Had Premchand been born in America or Europe, he would have certainly won the Nobel Prize for Literature and a knighthood too! I am proud to state that we had the privilege of being the first publishers of what is perhaps the greatest novel ever written in Hindi - Godan. As leading publisher and distributors of Hindi and Indic literature, we are proud to stock the works of Premchand. Come, be a part of the experience. Read Munshi Premchand to discover perceptive yet simple writing. Lucid style. Prose writing at its very best.