Remembering Munshi Premchand, the legendary author

New Delhi: October 8, 2014 is the 78th death anniversary of Munshi Premchand, a pioneer of modern Hindi and Urdu social fiction.Munshi Premchand's real name was Dhanpat Rai. He was born on 31 July, 1880 at Lamahi near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.His father Munshi Ajaib Lal was a clerk in the postal department. He was only eight years old when his mother died. He completed his early education in a Madarsa under a maulvi. He was forced to stop his study after his father died immediately after passing the intermediate.In 1900, he got a job as a teacher in a primary school in Bahraich near Lucknow. His monthly salary was Rs 20. In 1919, he completed his Bachelors of Arts. He was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's call of non-cooperation against the British rule and thus, he quit his job and devoted his full attention to writing.Premchand's literary career started as a freelancer in Urdu. His first story appeared in the magazine Zamana published from Kanpur.In his early short stories he depicted the patriotic upsurge that was sweeping the land in the first decade of the past century. ‘Soz-e-Watan', a collection of patriotic stories by Premchand was published in 1907. It attracted the attention of the British government.His famous works include Godan, Maidan-e-Amal, Bay-wah, Chaugaan etc.Short stories or afsanas were started by Premchand. His famous afsanas are Qaatil Ki Maan, Zewar Ka Dibba, Gilli Danda, Eidgaah, Namak Ka Daroga and Kafan. His collected stories have been published as Prem Pachisi, Prem Battisi, Wardaat and Zaad-e-Raah.He was also the first Hindi author to introduce realism in his writings.His greatness lies in the fact that his writings embody social purpose and social criticism rather than mere entertainment.Literature, according to Premchand, was a powerful means of educating public opinion. He was also a social reformer and thinker. He believed in social evolution and his ideal was equal opportunities for all.He wrote nearly 300 stories and novels. Among his best known novels are: Sevasadan, Rangmanch, Gaban, Nirmala and Godan. Much of Premchand's best work is to be found among his 250 or so short stories, collected in Hindi under the title Manasarovar. Three of his novels have been made into films. Satyajit Ray filmed two of Premchand's works– Sadgati and Shatranj Ke Khiladi. Sevasadan was made into a film with MS Subbulakshmi in the lead role.In May 1934, he arrived Mumbai to try his luck in the Hindi film industry. He had accepted a script writing job for the production house Ajanta Cinetone. He wrote the script for the film Mazdoor. Some influential people managed to get a stay on its release as it inspired the mill workers to stand up against the owners.Premchand was elected as the first President of the Progressive Writers' Association in Lucknow, in 1936.He is often referred as the ‘Upanyas Samrat' by some prominent Hindi writers.Godaan (The Gift of a Cow) was Premchand's last completed work. It is generally considered as his best novel and one of the finest Hindi novels.Premchand died on October 8, 1936.