hindi review
Unusual gift
Saroj Sharma

Munshi Prem Chand’s famous stories, while entertaining, depict life in all its brutal reality. These are touching stories about the life of peasants and about the multiple and varied role of women. He has the unique ability of capturing life in its raw form. The method of story-telling is conventional but he captures the essence of his characters and lays them bare before, as only a great writer can. His heroes and heroines pass through life’s sufferings and travails, its ups and downs showing exemplary courage and character. Namak ka Daroga is one such example. Women in Munshijee stories are more forward-looking and pragmatic as compared to men. The roles performed by women in the family cannot be matched in sheer importance by anyone as is clearly seen in Jyoti and Swamini.

They are relevant even today and would continue to be so in the future. Fed-up with their lives and unable to cope, farmers committed suicide then and they are doing so now as well. The stories present unpleasant truths about our society in unflattering terms depicting poverty, exploitation, helplessness in a simple way. They are not just stories but experiences containing incidents of everyday life in vivid detail. India lives in its villages. The stories capture the lives of ordinary people of India and are for all, the young as well as the old. The simplicity of the storytelling tug at the heartstrings and touch a sympathetic chord in everyone. Munshi Prem Chand’s ability to delve deep down into the psyche of the characters vividly describing their feelings and emotions capturing every mall experience, has the stamp of a great writer. The reader easily identifies with the characters, becoming part of the story sharing their joys and sorrows as if he were going through their experiences himself. Prem Chand is an emotional as well as sympathetic writer. Rebellion against inequality of society, the pain, sorrow and suffering, of the poor are graphically depicted in Kafan and Sava ser Gehun.

The way he has captured the nuances of ural living has probably not been done by any other author in the world. Conflict, psychology, emption, lively dialogues and biting satire are the soul of these stories.

In this age of pop culture Gulzar’s Tehrir is an invaluable gift to lovers of Hindi literature.

HOME