On Munshi Premchand's 136th birthday

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Manish Modi

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Jul 31, 2016, 3:41:10 AM7/31/16

to ROZ EK SHER, JAIN CLASS

ॐ ह्रीं श्रीपार्श्वनाथाय नमः

Auṃ Hrīṃ ŚrīPārśvanāthāya Namaḥ

Jay Jinendra

UPANYAS SAMRAT

MUNSHI PREMCHAND

http://www.navelgazing.net/2012/12/upanyas-samrat-munshi-premchand.html

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 began writing 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 secure schoolmaster's job. He chose a life of penury over his 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 ascites 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 Premchand’s 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, Premchand’s strength lies in the skilful portrayal of ordinary characters leading extraordinary lives in the most mundane circumstances. What adds to Premchand’s universal appeal is the way he has portrayed women and the minorities. Today’s 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 acquisitive 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’. We also published two of his story collections - ‘Nav Nidhi’ and ‘Sapta Saroj’. 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.

Books by Premchand

Rs. 400 गोदान GODAN

Rs. 400 ग़बन GHABAN

Rs. 650 रंगभूमि RANGABHUMI

Rs. 375 कर्मभूमि KARMABHUMI

Rs. 500 प्रेमाश्रम PREMASHRAM

Rs. 450 कायाकल्प KAYAKALP

Rs. 150 वरदान VARDAN

Rs. 150 निर्मला NIRMALA

Rs. 1500 प्रेमचन्द कहानी रचनावली PREMCHAND KAHANI RACHANAVALI (Set of 6 books)

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Rs. 4575 Total for 14 books (8 novels + 6 volumes of short stories)

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NB The Premchand Kahani Rachanavali offers the complete collection of all the short stories written by Premchand, including those which were banned by the British government. Many of these stories are not included in the most popular collection of Premchand’s short stories, sold under the rubric of ‘Mansarovar’.

All these books, novels as well as short stories, are elegantly printed and bound, and the text has been thoroughly checked to ensure that it is the exact text that was written by Munshi Premchand.

We offer free shipping free anywhere in India to those who buy the complete set of books by Munshi Premchand.

At Hindi Granth Karyalay, the oldest bookstore in Mumbai, we have been delighting readers since 24 September, 1912. We are committed to making the best writings on Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism and South Asian Studies available to readers all over the world. In addition to our own publications, we stock and sell books from all the major publishers in India.

We stock thousands of books on various topics such as religion, philosophy, Indology, literature, popular English novels, poetry, drama , art, self-help, yoga, children’s literature, ayurveda, music, cinema and sports. We wish to be a one-stop bookstore that caters to different tastes.

We sell books in Hindi, English, Sanskrit, Prakrit, Pali, Apabhramsha, Gujarati, Urdu, Kannada and Marathi.

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

1. We dispatch books after receiving payment.

2. How to pay us

In India, we accept payments through Visa, MasterCard, NEFT, Money Order and Demand Draft. Else, you may deposit the money in cash or by cheque at any branch of Bank of India.

You could also pay us through Paytm at 9820896128.

Internationally, we accept payments through Visa, MasterCard and SWIFT.

3. Shipping

In India, we send books by Registered Book Post, FedEx, domestic courier or surface transport.

Internationally, we ship books through FedEx, DHL, UPS, TNT, etc.

4. A list of our publications

http://www.navelgazing.net/2013/03/a-list-of-our-publications_19.html

5. Directions: How to reach us

http://www.navelgazing.net/2013/04/directions-how-to-reach-hindi-granth.html

Best regards,

Manish Yashodhar Modi

हिन्दी ग्रन्थ कार्यालय