Born: July 31, 1880
Died: October 8, 1936.
Achievements:
Premchand brought realism to Hindi literature. Premchand wrote on the realistic issues of the day-communalism, corruption, zamindari, debt, poverty, colonialism etc. He avoided the use of highly Sanskritized Hindi and instead used the dialect of the common people.Premchand popularly known as Munshi Premchand was one of the greatest literary figures of modern Hindi literature. His stories vividly portrayed the social scenario of those times.Premchand's real name was Dhanpat Rai Srivastava. He was born on July 31, 1880 in Lamahi near Varanasi where his father Munshi Azaayab Lal was a clerk in the post office. Premchand lost his mother when he was just seven years old. His father married again. Premchand was very close to his elder sister. His early education was in a madarasa under a Maulavi, where he learnt Urdu. When he was studying in the ninth class he was married, much against his wishes. He was only fifteen years old at that time.Premchand lost his father when he was sixteen years old. Premchand was left responsible for his stepmother and stepsiblings. He earned five rupees a month tutoring a lawyer's child. Premchand passed his matriculation exam with great effort and took up a teaching position, with a monthly salary of eighteen rupees. While working, he studied privately and passed his Intermediate and B. A. examinations. Later, Premchand worked as the deputy sub-inspector of schools in what was then the United Provinces.In 1910, he was hauled up by the District Magistrate in Jamirpur for his anthology of short stories Soz-e-Watan (Dirge of the Nation), which was labelled seditious. His book Soz-e-Watan was banned by the then British government, which burnt all of the copies. Initially Premchand wrote in Urdu under the name of Nawabrai. However, when his novel Soz-e-Watan was confiscated by the British, he started writing under the pseudonym Premchand.Before Premchand, Hindi literature consisted mainly of fantasy or religious works. Premchand brought realism to Hindi literature. He wrote over 300 stories, a dozen novels and two plays. The stories have been compiled and published as Maansarovar. His famous creations are: Panch Parameshvar, Idgah, Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Poos Ki Raat, Bade Ghar Ki Beti, Kafan, Udhar Ki Ghadi, Namak Ka Daroga, Gaban, Godaan, and Nirmala.Premchand was a great social reformer; he married a child widow named Shivarani Devi. She wrote a book on him, Premchand Gharmein after his death. In 1921 he answered Gandhiji's call and resigned from his job. He worked to generate patriotism and nationalistic sentiments in the general populace. When the editor of the journal _Maryaada_ was jailed in the freedom movement, Premchand worked for a time as the editor of that journal. Afterward, he worked as the principal in a school in the Kashi Vidyapeeth.The main characteristic of Premchand's writings is his interesting storytelling and use of simple language. His novels describe the problems of rural and urban India. He avoided the use of highly Sanskritized Hindi and instead used the dialect of the common people. Premchand wrote on the realistic issues of the day -communalism, corruption, zamindari, debt, poverty, colonialism etc.Premchand's writings have been translated not only into all Indian languages, but also Russian, Chinese, and many other foreign languages. He died on October 8, 1936.
Writing style
Writing style
Premchand called literature a work that expresses the truths and experiences of life impressively. Presiding over the Progressive Writers' Conference in Lucknow in 1936, he said that attaching the word "Progressive" to 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 raja-rani (king and queen) tales, the stories of magical powers and other such escapist fantasies. It was flying in the sky of fantasy, until Premchand brought it on the grounds of reality. Premchand wrote on the realistic issues of the day - communalism, corruption, zamindari, debt, poverty, colonialism etc.
Some criticize Premchand's writings as full of too many deaths and too much of misery. They believe Premchand does not stand anywhere near contemporary literary giants of India - Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay and Rabindranath Tagore. But it should be noted, that many of Premchand's stories were influenced by 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" - they described people as they were.
Premchand was a contemporary of some other literary giants of that era like Acharya Ram Chandra Shukla and Jaishankar Prasad.
Literary works (see complete list of his works on http://premchandstories123.blogspot.com/)
Premchand has written about 300 short stories, several novels as well as many essays and letters. He has also written some plays. He also did some translations. Many of Premchand's stories have been translated into English and Russian.
Godaan (The Gift of a Cow), his last novel completed by self, is considered the finest Hindi novel of all times,he started narrating mangalsutra which remain uncomplete since he passes away,the novel later on was completed by his son,Amrit rai. Goodan is about the protagonist, Hori, a poor peasant, desperately longs for a cow, a symbol of wealth and prestige in rural India. Hori gets a cow but pays with his life for it. After his death, the village priests demand a cow from his widow to bring his soul to peace.
In Kafan (Shroud), a poor man collects money for the funeral rites of his dead wife, but spends it on food and drink.
Famous stories
Idgah (ईदगाह اِیدگاہ)
Nashaa (नशा نشا)
Shatranj ke khiladi (शतरंज के ख़िलाडी شترںج کے خِلاڈی) (The chess players)
Poos ki raat (पूस की रात پُوس کی رات)
Atmaram (आत्माराम آتمارام)
Boodhi Kaki (बूढी काकी بُوڈھی کاکی) (The Old Aunt)
Bade Bhaisahab (बडे भाईसाब بڈے بھائیساب) (The big brother)
Bade ghar ki beti (बडे घर की बेटी بڈے گھر کی بیٹی) (The girl of an affluent family)
Kafan (कफ़न کفن) (Shroud)
Dikri Ke Rupai (दिक्रि के रुपै دِکرِ کے رُپے)
Udhar Ki Ghadi (उधार की घडी اُدھار کی گھڈی)
Namak Ka Daroga (नमक का दरोगा نمک کا دروگا)
Novels
Gaban (गबन)
Sevasadan
Godaan (गोदान)
Karmabhoomi (कर्मभूमी)
Kaayakalp (कायाकल्प)
Manorma (मनोरमा)
Mangalsootra (मंगलसूत्र), incomplete
Nirmala (निर्मला)
Pratigya (प्रतिज्ञा)
Premashram (प्रेमाश्रम)
Rangbhoomi (रंगभूमी)
Vardaan (वरदान)
Films based on Premchand's work
Satyajit Ray filmed two of Premchand's works — Sadgati and Shatranj Ke Khiladi. Sadgati (Salvation) is a short story revolving around poor Dukhi, who gets exhausted to death while hewing wood for a paltry favor. Shatranj ke Khiladi (The Chess Players) revolved around the decadence of nawabi 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 high caste. She is married to a much older, tyrannical man. She realizes that 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.
He also worked with the film director Himanshu Rai of Bombay Talkies, one of the founders of Bollywood.
Films and TV serials
Sadgati (1981) (TV)
Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977)
Godhuli (1977)
Oka Oori Katha (1977)
Gaban (1966)
Godaan (1963)
Seva Sadan (1938) (based on the novel Bazaar-e-Husn)
Mazdoor (1934)
Nirmala (TV Series, 1980s)
FOR MORE WORKS OF PREMCHAND
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