Premchand
Munshi Premchand (July 31, 1880-October 8, 1936) ("Premchand") was one of the greatest literary figures of modern Hindi literature.
Premchand was born as Dhanpat Rai in Lamahi near Varanasi. His father was a clerk in the post office. Premchand's mother expired when he was seven. His father didn't live for long either - he died while Premchand was a student. The responsibility of his step-mother and step-siblings fell on Premchand's teenage shoulders. Early in life, Premchand faced immense poverty. He used to earn five rupees a month by giving tutions to a lawyer's child. Premchand passed matriculation exam with great effort. However, he failed many times in the intermediate exam because his maths was bad. (See Great people who hated maths) When maths was removed as a compulsory subject, Premchand was able to pass the intermediate exam. He took up the job of a teacher for a monthly salary of eighteen rupees. He was later promoted to the post of school inspector. In 1921, he answered Gandhi's call and resigned from his job. Premchand was a great social reformer too; he married a widow named Shivarani Devi, which was a courageous thing to do in India of those times.
Initially Premchand used to write in Urdu by the name of 'Nawabrai'. However, when one of his novels 'Soz-e-vatan' was confiscated by the British Government, he started in writing under the pseudonym 'Premchand'. Before Premchand, the Hindi literature consisted of either fantasy or religious stuff. It was Premchand who brought realism in the Hindi literature. He wrote over 300 stories, a dozen novels and two plays. The stories have been compiled and published as 'Maansarovar'.
The main characteristic of Premchand's writings was his interesting story-telling and use of simple language. His novels describe the problems of the urban middle-class. He never used highly Sanskritized Hindi (as was a common practice among most Hindi writers), but rather used Hindustani - the dialect of the common people.
Many of Premchand's stories have been translated into English and Russian.
Famous Stories
- Panch Parameshvar
- Idgah
- Shatranj ke khiladi (The chess players)
- Poos ki raat
- Atmaram
- Boodhi Kaki (The Old Aunt)
- Bade Bhaisahab (The big brother)
- Bade ghar ki beti (The girl of an affluent family)
- Kafan (Coffin)
- Dikri Ke Rupai
- Udhar Ki Ghadi
Novels
- Gaban (The Embezzlement)
- Godaan (The Gift of a Cow)
- Karmabhoomi
- Kaayakalp
- Manorma
- Mangalsootra - Incomplete
- Nirmala
- Pratigya (The Vow)
- Prathijna
- Premashram
- Rangbhoomi (The theatre)
- Sevasadan
- Vardaan