By Vinaya Kumar Rai
Premchand's character neither represents
capitalists, kings and princes, nor do they represent gods and godesses-- they
are universal, writes Vinaya Kumar Rai.
PREMCHAND's birth anniversary falls on July 31. Each
year on this occasion many people remember him for different reasons and draw
different conclusions. This time I would like to peep into his family life to
re-ascertain his economic status which has been mostly recorded on negative
side. A man's life and status affects his thinking, more so if he is a writer.
It is generally believed that Premchand was born in
a poor family and could not get his subsistence easily. To reach an objective
conclusion it would be wiser to go into his family lineage. His grandfather was
a Patwari during the British rule. The Patwari's post was very remunerative and
he enjoyed wide powers over agricultural land. Moreover, he had over 30 bighas
of very fertile land. He lived merrily and had even extravagant habits. No man
could afford his way of life without being economically well-off.
Premchand's father, Munshi Ajaib Lal, was third of
the four sons of Munshi Gursahai Lal. In due course, he became a clerk in the
postal services and used to get Rs 40 a month. It was the last decade of the
19th century when gold used to be sold for Rs 20 per tola (per 10
grams). At that rate Premchand's father could buy two tolas of gold with
a month's salary. Apart from this, he had inherited about eight bighas of
fertile agricultural land from his father in Lamhi, his native village. In
Lamhi, even now a farmer's family of five or six persons can subsist on eight bighas
of land for on full year if it has subsidiary resources to meet the
requirements of clothing and other sundry expenses. So. Munshi Ajaib Lal too
was a well-to-do man.
He had one son, Dhanpat Rai alias Premchand, and one
daughter when his first wife expired. Dhanpat Rai was hardly six or seven at
that time. This made his father very affectionate towards him and he brought
him up in comfort, providing him clothes for no less than four annas a
yard (in those days one could buy British mill shirtings for that amount), and
shoes for not less than 12 annas (this amount was enough to buy a good
pair of shoes in those days). He used to give him, at least, rupees five every
month as pocket money during his school days.
 | |
| The author with his father Mahtab Rai in one of rare photographs. |
My father, Munshi Mahtab Rai, was the second son of
Munshi Ajaib Lal from his second wife. It may not be out of place to record
that Munshi Ajaib Lal married for the second time when his first son, Dhanpat
Rai, was 17 or 18, and about to do his matriculation, a certificate sure enough
to get a job for a comfortable living in those days. And he did take a teaching
job after his entrance examination but his desire for higher education prompted
him to pursue his studies till he graduated. As such, he was never economically
miserable at any time.
Munshi Ajaib Lal got his son Dhanpat Rai married
when he was about 16 to a girl who was the daughter of a landlord of Ramvapur
village in Basti district. The marriage ceremony was performed with all gaiety.
Dhanpat Rai too was happy with his marriage which, unfortunately, was short lived.
Some differences did develop between the husband and the wife. As a result, she
lived at times at Lamhi and at times in her father's home.
These differences grew so sharp that Premchand
decided to re-marry, presumably during his first wife's life time. He came in
contact with Munshi Devi Prasad, an Arya Samajist, of Fatehpur district, who
proposed his widowed daughter's marriage to him. He readily accepted this offer
as he himself under the influence of the
Arya Samaj. The marriage took place without any fanfare as Premchand's relatives
were against such a marriage. Only his younger brother Mahtab Rai and his
maternal uncle Vijaya Bahadur attended the marriage.
Premchand was well aware of pitiable condition of
farmers and urban wage earners and wrote about them. He was a staunch supporter
of religious harmony, particularly Hindu-Muslim amity. He chided the orthodox
pundits and mullas who came in the way of his mission. Likewise, he deprecated
language controversy. He never linked Hindi and Urdu with Hindus and Muslims.
He was equally concerned with the expanding British rule
in India and was well aware of the consequences of opposing it. His writings
gave clearly indicated that he was liberated from the British Raj and that
reform was possible if fought with determination. He was observing freedom
movement activities with concern and when Mohandas Gandhi launched the Swaraj
Movement he aligned himself with him and started projecting similar ideas in
his works.
His first story 'Soze Watan' was banned by
the British Government. He was severely indicted by the government for such
writings as he was a government servant. But this did not deter him. He kept on
writing first anonymously and afterwards, with a pen name.
When in 1921, Mahatma Gandhi addressed a vast
gathering in Gorakhpur and talked of non-cooperation and Swadeshi, he could not
remain a passive listener. He went home after the meeting with a determined
mind and consulted his wife who supported his idea of resignation from the
government job. He immediately resigned from the job. This was a great decision
as it was linked with his livelihood and it could place him in great hardship
thereafter. Rather, he felt more free to write and advocate for country's
freedom. He characters full of patriotic feelings in his novels and stories.
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| Munshi Premchand's house (right) as it stands today in Lamhi village of Varanasi. A library (left) in the adjacent memorial with pictures on my grandfather and his elder brother in the backdrop during one of my visits to Lamhi a few years ago. |
Premchand evidently adopted his characters from life
itself and life is universal. That is why his works have a universal appeal.
His model characters do not represent capitalists, kings and princes, nor do
they represent gods and goddesses.
One identifies with his characters while reading his
works and starts feeling that the plot of the novel has been enacted from his
own life. He has, time and again, created realistic characters in his works and
that is why he is considered as the representative author of the people.
*********************
The above article was written by my father for the
national English newspaper 'Patriot', New Delhi on August 1, 1993. Vinay
Kumar Rai or Dillan, third son of Mahtab Rai, too was born in Lamhi village in
Varanasi. Both Munshi Premchand and Mahtab Rai (addressed as Chhotak by the
elder brother) lived together in a large house and a joint family system was
followed. All the children including my father spent their childhood days
playing and studying together in the village under the guidance and patronage
of his father and uncle.
My father Vinaya Kumar Rai later took up teaching as his career and rose to become professor of psychology and migrated to Delhi having built his house in Noida.
I have found several mesmerising articles on Munshi Premchand penned by Vinaya which I have brought in my Blogs. Kindly copy/ paste the following LINKS to read them.
1)
https://apurvarai.blogspot.com/2019/07/blog-post.html
2)
https://apurvarai.blogspot.com/2019/10/blog-post.html
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