Remembering the Legend ‘Munshi Premchand’

Remembering the Legend ‘Munshi Premchand’

Death Anniversary of Munshi Premchand

Remembering the Legend ‘Munshi Premchand’:- Today is death anniversary of great India author, who was known for his novel write- ups, yes we are talking about the legend Munshi Premchand. He is no more, but he is still living through his write ups. Munshi Prem Chand, the author of the famous books Godan and Kafan passed away on October 8, 1936.

In the memory of this prolific writer, many literary societies and associations are celebrating the 80th death anniversary of the literary master today. He was the literary giant of the Hindi-Urdu literature; he is recognized in India as the fore-most Hindi-Urdu writer of the early 20th century. He not only loves to write novels he has also written stories and dramas. He is also famously known as the Upanyas Samrat which means ‘a great emperor among novel writers.’

History of Premchand

Munshi Prem Chand took birth in Dhanpat Rai family on July 31, 1880 in a village called Lamhi in Varanasi. His early education was at a local madrasa under a maulvi, where he studied Urdu. After his parents’ death he was responsible for his step mother and his step-siblings. Due to loaded responsibilities he gave up his job and start working as a teacher Chunar, near Varanasi.

He completed his Bachelor’s of Arts while being employed as a teacher and resigned from his services in 1921 on call of Mahatma Gandhi. He was married once at the age of 14 to a girl from a neighboring village but she soon returned back to her village when he left in 1889. In 1909, he again tied the knot with widow Shivarani Devi in spite of the opposition faced by the society for this revolutionary step.

On Gandhi’s advice he left teaching in order to serve for the country. He later became a principal at a school in Varanasi Dhanpat Rai first wrote under the pseudonym “Nawab Rai.” Nawad (Prince) was a name given to him by his uncle. In 1907, after the publishing of his controversial ‘Soz a watan’ – a short story collection which contained four stories that inspired the Indians to strive for the freedom of the country – was banned, his house in Hamirpur was raided and five hundred copies of his book were burnt, he secretly changed his pseudonym from Nawab Rai to Premchand.

In his hardworking career, he tried running a printing press, he became editor of the journal Madhuri, started a weekly called Hans, then another weekly called Jagran. His last two ventures left him in debt which made him, take up a job as a script writer for Ajanta Cinetone in Mumbai. He wrote for the film Mazdoor and did many other translations and novels.