For those smitten by the power of literature, stories have so much offer. They provide unmitigated pleasure, allowing a rare glimpse of the entire gamut of emotions that colour human existence. They open a window to the world of ideas and philosophy, struggle and resistance. In short, the entire terrain of the social-political-public-personal is the bounty that literature offers for the passionate reader.At a time when social, cultural, political and religious fault-lines threaten to irrevocably alter the very texture of India’s pluralistic fabric, when the best-sounding public discourses seem to be more like noise, a litterateur would suggest a “return” to the classics – for better ways of seeing and understanding one’s lived reality. And who better than Premchand in a pan-Indian context? As in his time, so too now, the multiple challenges India faces are all too formidable, and in his work one finds the moral compass needed to find one’s way through life.Premchand (1880-1936), ‘upanyas samrat’ (emperor of the novel) for many, was a novelist, short-story writer, essayist and translator and, above all, a sharp social observer and commentator. Belonging to a rare breed of writers with a deep understanding of both the Hindu and Islamic traditions, Premchand was also the first president of the Progressive Writers’ Association which gave a clarion call for socially engaged literature – this meant plucking literature from the breezy realms of Edenic beauty and exaggerated sentimentalism and planting it in earth so as to reflect the actuality of daily life, the here and now.Moreover, in the scenario of an increasing English readership, the publication of a massive four-volume set of Premchand’s complete short stories, Premchand: The Complete Short Stories (Vol. 1-4) ,translated from Hindi and Urdu texts into English, is timely. It immediately ensures a reach far beyond geographical boundaries.The four volumes have been edited and exhaustively introduced by noted author, academic and veteran translator M. Asaduddin, a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi award for his English translation of Ismat Chughtai’s iconic Kaghazi Hain Pairahan. He has translated around a 100 of the 300-odd stories included in this set.The ambitious project which reflects a unique collaborative effort of no less than 70 translators based in India and abroad, took more than a dozen years and a massive leap of faith and perseverance to come to fruition. Stories like Dara Shikoh ka Durbar, Janjal, and two parts of the three-part story Daru-e Talkh, which were not easily available either in Hindi or Urdu, were meticulously excavated for this project from rare sources, and have reached English readers for the first time.Premchand: The Complete Short Stories (Vol. 1-4) By Premchand (M. Asaduddin Ed.), Penguin, Rs. 2,999/- (boxed set), 3,264 pages. ISBN- 978-0-143-44128-1 (paperback), 2017. Credit: Penguin ClassicsWe are at a juncture where society is moving from its traditional strength of multi-linguality towards a narrow mono-linguality. Hence, accessing Premchand in the original, with his rich wide-ranging vocabulary, plentiful idiomatic usage, and a certain rootedness in his socio-cultural milieu, may be a formidable task for the urban, English-speaking individual. That is precisely where this four-volume translation set scores well over earlier ones, not just by capturing the essential spirit of Premchand in what is mostly a smooth transition to English from Hindi/Urdu but also by offering a useful but minimal glossary underlining the translators’ efforts to find the nearest English equivalents to Premchand’s colourful language, prodding an engaged reader to perhaps pay a rewarding visit to the original.It is not possible for any reader delving into this monumental presentation to remain untouched by the extreme humanness embodied in Premchand’s stories, exploring arguably all possible aspects and spheres of human life, replete with the shades of romance and tragedy, victory and loss, capturing the swirl of life, death and beyond. The stories have been arranged according to the nearest estimation of their chronology and not thematically in order to highlight the evolution of the writer’s literary sensibilities.Critics across the ideological spectrum concur that Premchand, whose oeuvre was imbued with a radical spirit, was well ahead of his times, and that his works were endowed with a remarkable degree of empathy and keen observation, as amply demonstrated in his works. In his meticulous foreword to the volumes, Harish Trivedi quotes Hindi critic Namwar Singh terming Premchand “the unique epic-chronicler (maha gathakar) of our struggle for freedom”, and adds that apart from this, Premchand was “like a true artist, concerned first and foremost with human beings and the daily ordinary lives they lived”.Trivedi also dwells on the spectres of sedition and censorship that haunted Premchand most of his life, and how he endeavoured to juggle Urdu and Hindi on the one hand, and the strong impulses of realism and idealism in his works, on the other. Trivedi’s succinct analysis of what Premchand himself termed as “adarshonmukh yatharthvad” (idealistic realism, or ideal-oriented realism for Trivedi) as his mode of writing fiction, is critical to understanding the diverse thematics interweaving his entire oeuvre.Asaduddin, in his well-crafted and systematic introduction to the volumes, adeptly sheds new light on various aspects of the life and works of an oft-introduced iconic writer. To quote one of his significant observations, “(Premchand’s) art of storytelling became a vehicle for his socially engaged agenda of social reform and ameliorating the condition of the deprived and oppressed sections of society”. Asaduddin flags and maps different areas of Premchand studies as it were, detailing them under headings such as beginnings; sources; themes; evolution of his storytelling; language issues: Urdu versus Hindi, and, Premchand in English.It would be pertinent to mention here that in his previous, one-of-its-kind book titled, Premchand in World Languages: Translation, Reception and Cinematic Representations (Routledge, 2016), Asaduddin had devoted a great deal of attention to locating and understanding the outreach as well as impact of Premchand’s translations which enjoyed unprecedented readership in European countries such as Russia, Spain, France and Germany.The editor’s introduction to the four volumes also addresses the perplexing issue of translations in Premchand’s own time which on occasion differed dramatically from version to version, be it from Hindi to Urdu or vice versa. Asaduddin specifically addresses the case of Poos ki Raat to illustrate this point, and offers insightful observations regarding the case of Atmaram to illustrate a subtler point about the cultural untranslatability of the same story while it travels from Hindi to Urdu.Spectres of sedition and censorship haunted Premchand most of his life, and he endeavoured to juggle Urdu and Hindi on the one hand, and the strong impulses of realism and idealism in his works, on the other. Credit: Wikimedia CommonsDespite the fact that certain popular and selected short stories of Premchand have been available in multiple translations which may or may not be up to the mark, this collection stands apart by devoting careful attention to the collation of the Hindi/Urdu versions of the stories, highlighting the differences in additional notes for the benefit of the reader.The stories in themselves stand testimony to Premchand’s constant unflagging engagement with issues which carry as much if not greater significance today. What a vast universe of concerns they represent – issues to do with the family; individual aspirations; caste injustice as seen through the life of the underdog, the marginalised and the Dalits; religion and ritualism; depiction of the plight of women young or old, unmarried, married, separated or widowed; patriotism and nationalism; the city and the countryside; the relationship between humans, animals and nature; and the age old polarity built up between Hinduism and Islam.For readers familiar with some of his iconic stories like Idgah, Kafan, Boodhi Kaaki, Thakur ka Kuan, Sadgati, Bade Ghar Ki Beti, Do Bailon Ki Katha and so on, these four volumes open the doors to a treasure trove like never before, where they will discover parallels or divergences in several lesser-known but equally intense stories by Premchand. Asaduddin’s valuable introduction also dwells upon different clusters of stories based on particular themes – for instance, in stories such as Tuliya (‘Devi’), Sati, The Goddess from Heaven (‘Swarg ki Devi’), Return (‘Shanti’), Godavari’s Suicide (‘Saut’), The Thread of Love (‘Prem Sutra’), Two Friends (‘Do Sakhiyan’), The Lunatic Lover (‘Unmaad’), Premchand deals with the plight of oppressed women. An enthusiastic reader would miss the original Hindi/Urdu titles which could perhaps have been accommodated alongside the translated titles in the table of contents, enabling quicker identification and access. Also, appending the additional notes about the differences in Hindi/Urdu versions of the stories to the respective stories themselves would have reduced the effort of flipping frequently to the end of the book. One hopes that these minor issues will be addressed in future editions of this outstanding effort.Since the editor and translators have consulted and drawn from all known resources and archives of Premchand’s stories in India and abroad, it is reasonable to expect that this collection will spur more incisive studies on Premchand’s fiction. Moreover, the luminous stories will endear Premchand the master craftsman, social reformer, and staunch humanist, to novices and connoisseurs alike.The depth of editorial effort is complemented by refreshing cover illustrations and design, in bright summer shades, by Shruti Mahajan and Gunjan Ahlawat, respectively. Truly a collector’s item, Premchand: The Complete Short Stories (Vol. 1-4) reaffirms Premchand’s absolute contemporaneity and relevance to our troubled times. Thanks to the laudable efforts of M. Asaduddin and Penguin Classics, readers, students, researchers, social scientists, and even perhaps some politicians, have been granted a spectacular wish: Give us this day our daily Premchand!Kalyanee Rajan teaches English Literature at a Delhi University College.
