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| Munshi Premchand |
Biography Munshi Premchand
Life introduction
Premchand was born in Lamhi village near Varanasi. His mother's name was Anandi Devi and father Munshi Ajayabarya was a postman in Lamhi. His education started in Urdu, Persian and he was fond of reading from his teaching as a living. At the age of 13, he read Tilism-e-Hoshruba and got acquainted with the novels of the famous Urdu writers Ratannath 'Sharsar', Mirza Hadi Ruswa and Maulana Sharr. After passing the matriculation examination in 1797, he was appointed as a teacher in a local school. He continued his studies with a job. In 1910, he passed Inter with English, Philosophy, Persian and History and in 1919, BA. After passing, he was appointed to the post of Inspector of Education Department.
His early life was a struggle because his mother died at the age of seven and his father died at the age of fourteen. Their first marriage was at the age of fifteen according to the tradition of those days which did not succeed. He was influenced by the Arya Samaj, which was a major religious and social movement at that time. He supported widow-marriage, and in 1907, according to his progressive tradition, got married to child-widow Shivrani Devi. They had three children - Sripat Rai, Amrit Rai and Kamala Devi Srivastava. In 1910, the district collector of Hamirpur called for his creation Soze-watan (lamentation of the nation) and accused him of provoking the public. All copies of Soje-watan were confiscated and destroyed. The Collector instructed Nawabray that now he would not write anything, if written, he would be sent to jail. By this time Premchand used to write under the name Dhanpat Rai. The editor of Zamana magazine to be published in Urdu and his Aziz friend Munshi Dayanarayan Nigam advised him to write under the name Premchand. After this, he started writing in the name of Premchand. He did his initial writing in Zamana magazine. He fell seriously ill in the last days of his life. His novel Mangalsutra could not be completed and he died on 8 October 1936 after a long illness. His final novel Mangal Sutra was completed by his son Amrit.
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Scope of work
Premchand is considered the father of modern Hindi story and the novel Samrat. Thus his literary life had started since 1901, but his first Hindi story was published in the December issue of Saraswati magazine in 1915 under the name Saut and in 1936 the last story was called Kafan. In this period of twenty years, many stories of his stories are seen. Before that, fictional, airy and mythological religious works were used in Hindi.
Premchand introduced realism in Hindi. "Much of the discussion of Indian literature that emerged from prominence later, whether it is Dalit literature or women's literature, has its roots in deep literature of Premchand." According to Premchand's article 'Pehli Rachna', his first work was a satire written on his maternal uncle, which is now unavailable. His first available writing is his Urdu novel Asrar Maabid. Premchand's second novel 'Hamkhurma aur Humswab', a Hindi adaptation of which was published in 1907 under the name 'Prema'.
After this, Premchand's first story collection came in the name Soze-Watan which was published in 1906. Soze-watan means the pain of the country. Fueled by patriotism, it was banned by the English government and warned its author not to do such writing in future. Due to this, he had to change his name to write. His first story titled 'Premchand' was published in the December 1910 issue of Bada Ghar Ki Beti Zamana magazine. His stories were posthumously published in 8 volumes titled Mansarovar.
The legend said that Premchand said that the litterateur is not the truth behind patriotism and politics, but rather the truth showing the torch before him. This thing has been revealed in his literature. In 1921, he quit his job at the call of Mahatma Gandhi. For a few months Maryada took over the editorship of the magazine, edited a magazine called Madhuri for six years, started his monthly Hans from Banaras in 1930 and a weekly weekly called Jagaran was released in early 1932.
He presided over the conference of the All India Progressive Writers Association in 1936 in Lucknow. He also worked as a story-writer in Mohan Dayaram Bhavani's Ajanta Sinetone Company. Wrote the story of a film called Mazdoor released in 1936 and left the two months' salary without completing the year-long period of contract and fled to Benaras because the air-water of the film world of Bombay (modern Mumbai) and more there is not like them.
He Came. He started writing stories originally in Hindi from 1915 and novels from 1918 (Sevasadan). Premchand wrote a total of nearly three hundred stories, about a dozen novels and many articles. He also wrote some plays and did some translation work. Many literary works of Premchand were translated into many languages including English, Russian, German. Godan is his classic creation. Kafan is believed to be his final story. He wrote with full authority in Hindi and Urdu. Most of his compositions originally written in Urdu, but they went first publication was in Hindi. In the creative life of thirty three years, he was given such a legacy of literature which is invaluable in terms of quality and infinite in terms of size.
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Creations
Premchand's composition and vision came in various literary forms. A versatile genius, Premchand created literature in many genres like novels, story, plays, reviews, articles, editorials, memoirs etc. He was prominently known as a storyteller and during his lifetime he was awarded the title of 'novel emperor'. He composed a total of 15 novels, some more than 300 stories, 3 plays, 10 translations, 6 children's books and thousands of pages of articles, editorials, speeches, roles, letters etc. but the fame and prestige he got from novels and stories , She could not get it from other genres. This situation is equally visible in both Hindi and Urdu languages.
Novel
Premchand's novels are milestones not only in the Hindi novel literature but also in the entire Indian literature. Premchand first begins his novelist in fiction. His first Urdu novel (incomplete) 'Asarare Maabid aka Devasthan Rajya' was published in Urdu weekly "Awaaz-e-Khalk" from October 8, 1903 to February 1, 1905. His second novel 'Hamkhurma aur Humswab', a Hindi adaptation of which was published in 1907 under the name 'Prema'. Since Premchand was originally an author of Urdu and came from Urdu into Hindi, all his early novels were originally written in Urdu and later he was written in Hindi.
He entered the world of Hindi novel from the novel 'Sevasadan' (1918). He originally wrote it in Urdu under the name 'Bajare-Hussan' but first published its Hindi form 'Sevasadan'. 'Sevasadan' is the story of a woman becoming a prostitute. According to Dr. Ram Vilas Sharma, the main problem expressed in 'Sevasadan' is the subordination of the Indian woman. This was followed by his first novel, 'Premashram' (1921) on peasant life. Its draft was also prepared in Urdu under the name 'Goshaye-Aafiyat', but like 'Sevasadan' it was first published in Hindi.
'Premashram' is probably the first novel in Hindi written on peasant life. It was written during the era of the peasant movements of Awadh. After this, the journey from 'Rangbhoomi' (1925), 'Kayakalp' (1926), 'Nirmala' (1927), 'Gaban' (1931), 'Karmabhoomi' (1932) to 'Godan' (1936) to perfection Received. Premchand had started a revolutionary change in Hindi fiction by making Surdas, a blind beggar, a hero of fiction in Rangbhoomi. Godan has an important place not only in Hindi literature but also in world literature. In it, Premchand's literary ideology achieves perfection from 'idealistic realism' to 'critical realism'.
Creating a common peasant hero of the novel was like to change the course of the novel tradition. The death of Hori, a storyline trapped in the cycle of feudalism and capitalism, shakes the minds of readers. In his previous novels 'Premashram' and 'Karmabhoomi' on peasant life, while presenting the Premchand reality, he embraces the ideal by the end of the novel. But Godan's tactful end is a witness to the fact that Premchand was disillusioned with idealism by then. This can also be seen in his last period stories. Mangalasutra is an unfinished novel of Premchand. The basic story of Premchand's novels was Indian rural life. The height that Premchand gave to the Hindi novel remained a challenge for the successors of the latter. Premchand's novels were translated into many languages of India and the world, especially his most popular novel Godan.
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STORY
Most of his stories depict lower and middle classes. Dr. Kamalkishore Goenka has published the entire Hindi-Urdu story of Premchand under the name Premchand Kahaani Rachnavali. According to him Premchand has written a total of 301 stories, 3 of which are still inaccessible. Premchand's first story collection titled Soze Vatan was published in June 1906. The first story of this collection, Ratan, the world's most precious, is generally considered to be his first published story. According to Dr. Goenka, Worldly Prem and Desh-Prem (Ishke Duniya and Hubbe Watan), published in the April issue of Zamana, an Urdu monthly magazine originating from Kanpur, is actually his first published story.
A total of nine story collections were published during his lifetime - Soze Vatan, 'Saapt Saroj', 'Navnidhi', 'Premapurnima', 'Prem-Pachisi', 'Prem-Pratima', 'Prem-Dwadashi', 'Samar Yatra', ' Mansarovar ': Part one and two and' Shroud '. After his death, his stories were published in 8 parts titled 'Mansarovar'. As soon as Premchand was free from the authority of literature, various editors and publishers prepared and published Premchand's stories. His stories have diversity of subject and craft. He has made the main characters in his stories from all classes of humans to animals and birds. The problems of farmers, laborers, women, Dalits, etc. have been depicted seriously in their stories. He has written stories related to social reform, patriotism, freedom struggle etc. His historical stories and love stories also proved to be quite popular. These names can be taken in the main stories of Premchand-
'Panch Parmeshwar', 'Gulli Danda', 'Story of two bulls', 'Idgah', 'Bade Bhai Saheb', 'Night of the Pus', 'Kafan', 'Thakur ka Kuan', 'Sadgati', 'Old Kaki' ',' Tawan ',' Demolition ',' Price of milk ',' Mantra 'etc.
DRAMA
Premchand composed the plays Sangram (1923), Karbala (1924) and Prem ki Vedi (1933). These plays are good at the level of craftsmanship and compassion, but their stories and novels have reached such a height that Premchand did not get much success in the field of drama. These plays have become really interactive novels.
Article / essay
Premchand was not only a sensitive storyteller, but also a vigilant citizen and editor. He edited his literary and social concerns through articles or essays in 'Hans', 'Madhuri', 'Jagran' etc., while editing magazines and magazines in the then other co-existing literary magazines 'Chand', 'Maryada', 'Swadesh' etc. Expressed from 'Premchand: Miscellaneous Context' (Part Three) edited by Amritrai is actually a compilation of Premchand's writings. Premchand's articles have also been printed from the publication institute under the title 'Some Thoughts'. Premchand's famous writings include the following articles - Purpose of Literature, Old Age New Age, Benefits of Swaraj, Kahaani Kala (1,2,3), Some thoughts about the Qaumi language, Unity of Hindi-Urdu, Mahajani Civilization , Novels, place of literature in life, etc.
TRANSLATION
Premchand was also a successful translator. He also translated the works of writers of other languages whom he read and were influenced by. Translated 'Tolstoy's Stories' (1923), three plays of Galsvardi under the names Strike (1930), Silver Ki Dibiya (1931) and Nyaya (1931). Azad Katha (from Urdu, Ratannath Sarshar), father's letter to the daughter's name (from English, Jawaharlal Nehru) Hindi translation of Fasan-e-Azad, the Urdu novel of Ratanath Sarshar by him, became very popular.
Diverse
Children's Literature: Ram Katha, Dog Story, Jungle Stories, Durgadas
Thoughts: Premchand: Miscellaneous Contexts, Thoughts of Premchand (in three volumes)
Editing: Maryada, Madhuri, Hans, Jagran
Criticism
Premchand came to Hindi with the rite of Urdu and became a great Hindi writer. Gave Hindi its special idiom and openness. Both the story and the novel made epoch-making changes. He established a strong urge for timeliness in literature. He made the common man the subject of his creations and, by openly penning his problems, placed him on the post of heroes of literature. Prior to Premchand, Hindi literature was entangled in stories of Raja-Rani, mystery and thrill. Premchand took literature to the surface of truth. He brought out the truth of life and time. He continued to write for a lifetime on communalism, corruption, zamindari, indebtedness, poverty, colonialism. Most of Premchand's compositions tell the story of his poverty and poverty. It is also not wrong that he was the creator of the common Indian. He became a hero in his creations, which Indian society deemed untouchable and disgusting. He used the language of simple, easy and common language and presented his progressive ideas strongly to the society. Presiding over the first conference of the Progressive Writers Association in 1937, he said that the writer is progressive by nature and he who is not so is not a writer. Premchand is the era promoter of Hindi literature. He started a new tradition of idealistic realism in Hindi story.
Controversy related to Premchand's life
Despite being such a great creator, Premchand's life is not free of accusations. Kamalkishore Goenka, Premchand's scholar, in his book 'Premchand: New Directions of Study', tried to reduce the importance of his literature by making some allegations on Premchand's life. The main allegations against Premchand are - Premchand left his first wife without any reason and even after second marriage, he had a relationship with another woman (as quoted by Shivrani Devi in 'Premchand Ghar Mein'), Premchand 'Jagran' In 'Brawl', Vinodashankar cheated with Vyas, Premchand cheated his press senior employee Pravasi Lal Verma, workers in Premchand's press strike, Premchand resorted to chaos when his daughter became ill, etc. These allegations made by Kamalkishore Goenka certainly bring to us a side of Premchand's life which reveals his human weaknesses but the evaluation of his extensive literature has no effect on these allegations. People remember Premchandra today because of his ability which gives very little space to controversies.
Controversy regarding scribe
Premchand is often known as "Munshi Premchand". When and how did 'Munshi' become associated with Premchand's name? Most people in this subject assume that Premchand was a teacher in the beginning. The teachers were often called Munshi ji at that time. Apart from this, there has been a tradition of putting the word 'Munshi' as the first honor of the names of Kayasthas. Probably, the word Munshi became rigid with the name of Premchand ji. According to Professor Shukdev Singh, Premchand never used the word 'Munshi' himself in front of his name. He also believes that the word Munshi is a sign of respect, which fans of Premchand may have once imposed. This fact is based on conjecture. But the authentic reason for adding the Munshi adjective to Premchand's name is that the letter 'Hans' used to co-edit Premchand and Kanhaiyalal Munshi. On some copies of which Kanhaiyalal Munshi's full name was not printed, but 'Munshi' was printed and also Premchand's name was printed in this way-
Editor
Scribe, premchand
Hans's editors were Premchand and Kanhaiyalal Munshi. But over time, the readers took 'Munshi' and 'Premchand' as one and became 'Premchand' - 'Munshi Premchand'. It's but natural. The general reader often reads the works of the author, not seeing the subtlety of the name. Today, the Munshi ornamentation of Premchand has become so rigid that it is only by 'Munshi' that Premchand's realization is made and by not saying 'Munshi', Premchand's name seems incomplete.
Inheritance
Premchand did many experiments to reach the pinnacle of his art. In the era in which Premchand raised the pen, there was no such concrete legacy behind him nor was there any model of thought and progress. But by the time he composed a classic novel like Godan which is considered a modern classic. He coined and shaped things himself. When the freedom movement of India was going on, the expression he gave to both Hindi and Urdu languages through narrative literature gave rise and vigor to political stirring, passion and movement to all and this also made his writing powerful. Premchand can certainly be called the first progressive writer of Hindi in this sense. In 1937, he addressed the first conference of the Progressive Writers Association as the Chairman. His speech became the basis of the manifesto of the progressive movement. Premchand gave birth to a tradition of storytelling in Hindi and an entire generation followed in his footsteps, Renu, Nagarjuna and after that Shrinath Singh has written stories of rural surroundings in the 50s, he is a kind of tradition of Premchand. Comes in line with
Premchand was a revolutionary creator, he saw not only patriotism but also many evil practices prevalent in the society and put them before the people through the story. He began to portray all the problems of society at that time. Dalits also come in it, women also. All these subjects later became major discourses of Hindi literature. Premchand is one of the most popular writers of Hindi cinema. Satyajit Rai made memorable films on two of his stories. Chess players in 1961 and salvation in 1971. Two years after his death, Subramaniam made a film on the novel Sevasadan in 1936 in which Subbalakshmi played the lead role. In 1979, Mrinal Sen made a Telugu film named Oka Uri Katha based on Premchand's story Kafan which also won the National Award for Best Telugu Film. Godan became popular films in 1973 on embezzlement and in 1984 on embezzlement. The TV serial Nirmala made on his novel in the 1980s also became very popular.
New studies related to Premchand
The credit of distinguished Premchand in Hindi literature and criticism is given to Dr. Ram Vilas Sharma, but this is a misconception. Actually, Premchand's popularity as a storyteller and novelist was so much during his lifetime that he was known as 'novel emperor'. Those who installed Premchand were his readers, not critics. Amritrai and Madangopal did the work of saving Premchand's letters. The names of Kamalkishore Goenka and Dr. Dharmaveer are notable in the new studies on Premchand. Kamalkishore Goenka has edited Premchand's inaccessible literature (two parts) and 'Premchand Vishwakosh' (two parts) along with highlighting the weak sides of Premchand's life. Dr. Dharamvir has written books titled Premchand: Samant ka Munshi and Premchand's Blue Eyes while evaluating Premchand literature from a Dalit point of view.
Awards and Honors
A postage stamp worth 30 paise was issued on 31 July 1960 on behalf of the Post Office Department in memory of Premchand on the occasion of his birth centenary. Premchand Sahitya Sansthan has been established in the school in Gorakhpur where he was a teacher. Its verandah has a fresco whose picture is given on the right. There is also a museum of things related to him. Where he also has a bust. On the 125th anniversary of Premchand, it was announced by the government that a memorial and research and study institute would be built in the name of Premchand in this village adjoining Varanasi. Premchand's wife Shivrani Devi wrote his biography in Premchand's house by name and revealed the part of his personality that people were unaware of. This book was first published in 1949, but its importance in the field of literature can be gauged from the fact that it was revisited and published in 2005, this work was done by his grandson Prabodh Kumar. Its English and Hassan Manzar's Urdu translation was also published. His own son Amrit Rai has written a biography of his father by the name of Kalam Ka Sipahi. All his books have been translated into English and Urdu, his stories have become popular in many foreign languages like Chinese, Russian etc.
