Munshi Premchand (July 31, 1880 - October 8, 1936), whose real name was Dhanpat Rai had born on a small village 'Lamhi' near Varanasi. Married at fifteen to a girl from a neighboring village but the marriage was a failure and, when Premchand left the village in 1899, the girl returned to her village. Several years later, in 1906, in response to an advertisement in a local paper from a man who wanted to marry off his child-widow daughter, he married a second time to Shivrani Devi.
In 1921, he answered Mahatma Gandhi's call and resigned from his government job. In the same year his son, Amrit Rai, was born; Rai also became a writer, and wrote a highly regarded biography of his father.
The main characteristic of Premchand's writings is his interesting story-telling and use of simple language. His novels describe the problems of the rural peasant classes. He avoided the use of highly Sanskritized Hindi but rather he used the dialect of the common people.
Here is a site to read his stories online
http://munshi-premchand.blogspot.com/
'My Life and Times' is a unique autobiography by Munshi Premchand, recreated from his works by the man regarded as Premchand’s Boswell, Madan Gopal.
The best short story I have read yet is 'do bailon kee katha'. I really can't stop appreciating the author and fallen in love of him after reading this story only. Please click here if you want to read 'Do bailon kee katha'
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NOVELS
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• Godaan (HINDI)
This is Premchand’s last completed novel, is considered his best work. It is the
story of a changing people, hungry and semi-starved, yet hopeful and optimistic, in the truest spirit of the age it represents. Hori gets a cow but pays with his life for it. After his death, the village priests demand a cow from his widow to bring his soul to peace.• Gaban (HINDI)
Gaban, first published in 1931, five years before Premchand's death, gives us a fascinating glimpse of north Indian society, and especially of the author's own Kayasth community. Ramnath, the morally weak but physically charming son of a poor but honest government clerk in Allahabad, marries the beautiful Jalpa. Her passion for jewellery, inculcated from early childhood, involves her husband in increasingly
complex financial and personal relationships, and eventually leads to his apparent disgrace, and his flight from home.
• Nirmala (HINDI)
First published in 1928, this poignant novel by Premchand is a classic text of the woman as victim. Young and vulnerable, Nirmala is married off to an elderly widower by her mother who cannot afford to pay a dowry for her. A forbidden relationship between the young bride and one of her three stepsons seems inevitable.
• The Second Wife (ENGLISH)
An English translation of Premchand's well-known novel Nirmala. Charming and cultivated, Nirmala’s only sin is her failure to get a husband who would accept her without a dowry. She is married off to a widower. The realistic dramatization of the family events is peculiarly Indian, but based on universal human experience, transcending geographical boundaries and barriers of culture.
• Sevasadan
One of Premchand’s most successful Hindi novels, Sevasadan is a bold statement on the political and religious debates about marriage, sexuality, and prostitution, at a time when Indian Women were being held up as standard-bearers of a nation in chains. A hugely popular novel, Sevasadan went through several editions after its first publication in 1918. It was made into a film in 1938 with M S Subbulakshmi in the lead role.
• Rang Bhoomi ( HINDI)
• Karam Bhumi (HINDI)
• Pratigya (HINDI)
• Kaya Kalap (HINDI)
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SHORT STORIES:-
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• The Great Stories of Munshi Premchand
• Premchand Rachana Sanchayan (HINDI)
• Barhe Babu and Other Stories (HINDI)
• Rani Sarandha & Other Stories (HINDI)
• Duniya Ka Sabse Anmol Ratan and Other Stories (HINDI)
• Gulli-Danda and other stories (HINDI)
• Ramlila and other stories (HINDI)
• Sohag ka Shav and Other Stories (HINDI)
• Do Bailon Ki Katha and Other Stories (HINDI)
• Mantra and Other Stories (HINDI)
• Sadgati and Other Stories (HINDI)
• Poos ki Raat and Other Stories (HINDI)
• Do Bhai and Other Stories (HINDI)
• Premchand Ki Sumpurna Kahaniyan (HINDI)
• Twenty Four Stories By Premchand
• Mansarovar: Part I TO VIII (HINDI)
• Vardan (HINDI)
• Namak Ka Daroga and other Stories (Hindi)
• Narak ka Marg and Other Stories (HINDI)
• Panch Parmeshwar and other Stories (Hindi)
• Shatrang Ke Khilari and other Stories (Hindi)
• Premchand ki Sarvshresth Kahaniyan (HINDI)
• Kafan (HINDI)
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CHILDRENS LITERATURE
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• Pariksha and other Stories (HINDI)
This set of books introduces teenagers learning Hindi to India's master storyteller , whose stories are both thoughtful and humane.
• Mandir - Set of 3 books (HINDI)
A set of 3 books in an easy-to-read bold type for children written by famous fiction writer. The set includes titles: Mandir, Jungle ki
Kahaniyan and Id ka Tyohar.
• How India Won Her Freedom (Set of 3 Illustrated Books)
This set includes 3 illustrated books for children.
• The Illustrated Premchand - Selected Short Stories
In this collection, twelve stories from his oeuvre, carefully adapted and specially illustrated keeping young readers in mind, offer a vivid
glimpse of life in the villages and small towns of north India. Each story is unique in its own way.
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PLAY / DRAMA
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• Karbala (Hindi)
• Sangram & Prem Ke Vedi (HINDI)
