Author: Premchand
Translator(s)/ Edito: Nandini Nopany/ P Lal
Publisher: Writers Workshop
Year: 2007
Language: English
Pages: 201
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8181576608
Description
In 1910, Premchand switched from Urdu to Hindi with a story called Bade Ghara Ki Beti with which we have decided to open this collection. The stories have been arranged chronologically, to give the interested reader a clear idea of the development of Premchand as a story writer conscientiously working on and improving his narrative craft over a period of twenty-six years, 1910-1936 with the exception of the last four stories (which have been taken from Kafan, the volume that appeared posthumously in 1936), all have been chosen from the eight volumes of Premchand’s collected stories titled Manasarovar, published by Sarasvati Press, Alahabad.
The accent is on the later stories, because we felt that these represented Premchand in a more mature and therefore more readable and studyable light than the somewhat un-aut and repetitive earlier stories. Most of Premchand’s political and social themes are covered: the freedom movement, the oppression of Harijans, the exploitation of the Kisan by the moneyed classes, the subjugation of women, the tensions of the joint family. There is a fair sampling of his humour and satire, and one rare example of soaring idealistic fantasy. (The transliteration within parentheses follows the universally accepted system of Romanization of the Devanagari script.)
Contents
Introduction
1. Rich Daughter-in-Law (December 1910)
2. The Panchayat is the Voice of God (June 1916)
3. The Competitors (July 1921)
4. The Brainwave (November 1922)
5. The Ruse (August 1923)
6. The chess Players (October 1924)
7. Babaji’s Feast (mid-1920)
8. The Song of the Heart (August 1927)
9. A Special Experience (1930)
10. A winter Night (May 1930)
11. Jail (February 1931)
12. A Holi Present (April 1931)
13. A Tale of Two Oxen (October 1931)
14. Splashes from a Motor Car (1930-1936)
15. Miss Padma (1932-1936)
16. The Fine (1930-1936)
17. The Thakur’s Well (August 1932)
18. Cowards (January 1933)
19. Points of View (March 1934)
20. The Secret (May 1934)
21. Tipsy on That, Drunk on This (1934)
22. The Holi of Love (1936)
23. The Shroud (1936)
24. Kashmir apples (October 1936)
Appendix:
How I Write a Story