With age and experience, observation and assimilation
we consider certain artistes, writers, leaders as close to our own ideology. Our
own ideology to a large extent is influenced by these people, whom we consider
as our own ; almost sacred. We refer to them from time to time, verify our
opinions and defend their ideas and actions in
discussions and debates often at the cost of annoying our family and
friends. They remain in one corner of
our consciousness , well guarded by us as our
support for sustenance and survival.
There are few
of them; whom I have idolised over the years, Munshi Premchand ( 1880-1936) is
one of them. His birth anniversary falls on 31July . A few days back I was again reading his most famous short story ‘Idgah’,
which tells the story of a four year old boy ‘Hamid’ who spends the only three
paise he had for ‘Iid’ celebration to purchase a ‘chimta’
( metal tong ) for his grandmother ‘Amina’ to ensure her hands and fingers
remain safe from fire while making ‘chappatis’ , whilst his other friends
purchase expensive toys he sacrifices his desires and even defends bravely his
purchase. The grandmother is so moved by his gesture that she weeps
uncontrollably showering blessings on the lad thus becoming childlike in front of
the small boy who for that moment becomes her guardian. It is a poignant story, which is one of the best and
representative work of Premchand. Innocence of childhood, child psychology,
games children play! The atmosphere during ‘Iid’, the village
setup all are depicted so minutely and accurately in the short story .Prem Chand
was a keen observer of Society. He wrote for the victims of socio-economic
oppression. Not all his stories were serious, even then there was an
undercurrent of humour in his style .
Born in Lamahi village near Varanasi he learnt
Persian and Urdu under the tutorship of the village Moulvi. His mother loved
him immensely and died when he was only eight . This affected him lifelong and
his characters are often those who have lost their mother in young age . The
motherless child would play and roam the village with friends and was on the
verge of being wayward but was saved by his interest in reading . From the age
of thirteen he would read thick volumes of Urdu literature of Maulana Faizi ,
Mirza Rusva, Pandit Ratan Nath Sharshar ( Afsana-e- Azaad) and Urdu translation of ‘Purans’
published by Navalkishore Press Lucknow.
Rest he imbibed by direct observation of society. No great human influences
other than his mother were in his life. No influential politician or religious
or social reformer carved his ideas other than some novelists . Gandhi made a
big impact on him but that influence was on the entire Nation.
The topics of his journalistic writings too dealt with local,
National and International issues and on varied and interesting subjects - ‘Oliver
Cromwell’, ‘Laila -Majnu’, ‘Reporting on Nehru’s speeches’, ‘Maxim Gorky’ ,’Hindu-Muslim
issues’, ‘peasant problems’, ‘untouchability’, ‘ freedom movement’, ‘ book
reviews ’etc. Most of these writings appear in the monthly Urdu magazine
‘Zamana’ from Kanpur belonging to Munshi Daya Narayan Nigam with whom he
developed a life long friendship and wrote a column titled ‘Raftare
Zamana’ . He also wrote for other
newspapers and magazines. His journalistic writings are compiled in three
volumes by his son Amrit Rai titled ‘Vibhinn Prasang’ ( various
subjects). There are also two volumes of his letters titled ‘Chitthi
Patri’.
He was
fortunate enough to see popularity and fame in his life time but prosperity
eluded him. His many short stories and novels were first published in
newspapers and magazines , the rise and role of Hindi/Urdu press contributed to
his fame. . In his dying months too he
would be writing to complete his novel ‘ Mangal sutra’ in order
to succeed financially for the family . He ‘Presided’ the first ‘Progressive
writers’ conference’ in 1936 organised in Lucknow by Sazzad Zahir which speaks of his stature. His address stands as a
‘Historical document’ . A paragraph is
illustrated here:
“Literature which does not awaken our
interest, which does not give us spiritual and mental satisfaction , which does not give us
strength and vitality , in which our
love of beauty is not kindled , which does not give us resolve to overcome our difficulties is
useless for us today. It does not qualify to be called Literature....... those
writers who follow the rich ; follow
their style of writing and those who belong to the masses write in the language
of the masses”
In his letter written in English to Mr Indra Nath
Madan dated 16 December 1934 he expressed his opinion and
information on number of points which he was asked. ‘Rangbhoomi’ was his favourite
Novel . His characters were ‘ideal characters’ with human failings.
He was influenced by the writings of Leo Tolstoy, Victor Hugo and Romain Rolland. The writings of Ravindranath
Tagore impressed him, but he evolved his own style. He did not write ‘Drama’ as
the value of it was in staging and at
that time quality of stage was not good . He was not impressed with the ‘Parsi Theatre’ . He considered Novel
writing as vehicle of conveying his thoughts and was aggrieved that Indians did
not buy books and therefore financial independence for writers was difficult.
He was very disillusioned with the cinema world and the compromises one had to
make and was to leave it soon. He believed in the evolutionary change in the
society and not revolutionary. He did believe in ‘Supreme deity’ but stated
that it hand no hand in ‘human affairs’ . Regarding marital life he said that
one has to ‘compromise’ , any of the partner has to bend.
Once he was asked about the high points in his life.
He said that his life journey was straight and plain with no ‘Highs’ perhaps , many ‘pitfalls’ on path.
After his death his name and fame moved leaps and
bounds . His books by numerous publishers were available in all book stores. A look
at Railway station ‘book stalls’ would confirm his appeal among readers . His stories and novels are taught in
schools, colleges and Universities and writings are translated in many
languages. However his journalistic writings and letters need more publication
and publicity to understand the depth of the person.
Lifelong he was resolving the ‘three major
conflicts and challenges in his life’ and died at relatively young age
of 56. The first was his health and constant ‘stomach ailment’ on account of which he struggled and suffered. The second was his financial condition which
bogged him down till the end. He was first a school teacher and supported his family and stepmother . In
order to supplement his income he would regularly write in newspapers and
magazines . He plunged into ‘non cooperation movement’ in 1921 on the call of
Gandhiji and sacrificed his pension . As owner of printing press and
publication ‘Hans’ and ‘Jagran’ he was
in constant debt. He tried his luck in
cinema writing and stayed as writer of a production house in Mumbai for a year
and despite good pay left out of dissatisfaction . He wrote dialogues for a
film titled ‘Mazdoor’ which were so
powerful that crowds came out in the streets and the administration had to stop
screening. The third conflict was his
fight for justice and freedom of the down trodden and oppressed through his
writings in which he was victorious and
is remembered .
Premchand’s
writings have not been fully explored in cinema in a way his Bengali
peer Sharat Chandra has been . His novels ‘Gaudan’ and ‘Gaban’
were made into films many years back and
some TV serials have not done justice . Only Satyajit Ray made the remarkable
film ‘Shatranj ke khiladi’
. Perhaps a film maker of Ray’s calibre only may bring out the essence
of Premchand on Screen
Firaq Gorakhpuri
has written an Essay on him in his ‘Garden of Essays’ where he writes , “
His voice was a new voice in Indian Literature . He made children and grown up
people thoughtful and moved them emotionally by his stories. He brought
literature from isolated circles to the life and labours of the Indian people .
India was presented in the sincerest and most living way in his writings. About
50 years ago the work done in one Indian language was not known to the readers
of other Indian languages. Premchand’s work broke down these barriers. He
became along with very few great writers an all India figure in Indian
literature.”
I return to him regularly to refresh and rejuvenate
myself. Each of his story is material for research on subjects such as
sociology , history, psychology and more. Such is the greatness of Premchand who
resides in my sacred corner; secured.
