Premchand ki Prem Sambandhii KahaaniyaaN

It is not impossible, but rare for sure, to find good Hindi literature in this city. The Hindi section, in the biggest of the book stores, majorly boasts of translated versions of Deepak Chopra, Shiv Khera, Stephen Covey and the likes, which are an absolute No-No in any case. Then there is the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series which are really not able to lure the pure vegetarian me.

So it was a pleasant surprise indeed when I saw this book on the distant racks, in an obscure corner of a book store. My eyes blinked in disbelief and then gleamed with sheer joy when I spotted "Munshi Premchand" written in devnagri. The jolts of excitement rushed through my body like adrenaline. I gushed, literally, stretching out my hand to reach for this book. But the excitement soon turned into bewilderment when I saw the title of the book!

I had supposedly finished reading anything and everything Munshi Premchand had written, well almost, by the time I began my fourth standard in school, when the class was just beginning to get its first exposure to him, through his story "Eidgaah."  (More on Eidgaah later, as it still remains my favourite work of him.) 

But I had never come across anything close to what I saw written on the cover page. Must say the title was solely responsible for this "shocked-surprised-bewildered-amazed" state of mine. It read,

           "Premchand ki Prem Sambandhii KahaaniyaaN" 

Now this was certainly confusing, and in some ways misguiding! May be it was both presumptuous and premature of me but somehow I felt it was disgraceful for someone of the stature of Munshi Premchand to be "marketed" this way! An inexplainable sorrow engulfed my being.

Godaan, Nirmala, Gaban, Kafan, Shatranj ke KhilaaDii, Rangbhoomi, Karmbhoomi, Pratigya, Maansarovar....were all bought and devoured by avid readers, because they were written by Premchand. Readers of these books were people from all walks of life, who wanted to read realistic stories whose characters could be seen around them - be it the problems of the poor or the urban middle-class or the exploitation of the weak by the powerful hypocrites in the society.

A reader of Premchand was not expecting to read the most romantic fiction, a la Nora Roberts or Judith Mcnaught, when he bought his book. In fact Premchand's claim to fame was his ability to paint the stark (and primarily dark) picture of social issues, often venturing into highlighting corruption, feudalism, child widowhood, colonialism, and above all - poverty.

I was well aware and rather comforted by the thought of the oft-read-and-preached Gyaan - "Do not judge a book by its cover." So there were no apprehensions about the content at least. I would like to clarify here that i am not averse to the idea of love, or it being associated with Premchand. 

The rage of the 'angel' here was all about marketing God as Baba Bangali - "Yahan aapki sabhi prakaar ki samasyaaoN ka samaadhaan hota hai!" 

{The "What Lies Within" of the said book will be shared in my successive blogs.}

©Fursatnama