बड़े भाई साहब

by Munshi Premchand

Genres: Short Stories

24 pages, Paperback

About the author

Munshi Premchand (Hindi: मुंशी प्रेमचंद) was an Indian writer famous for his modern Hindustani literature. He is one of the most celebrated writers of the Indian subcontinent,and is regarded as one of the foremost Hindustani writers of the early twentieth century.

Born Dhanpat Rai, he began writing under the pen name "Nawab Rai", but subsequently switched to "Premchand", while he is also known as "Munshi Premchand", Munshi being an honorary prefix. A novel writer, story writer and dramatist, he has been referred to as the "Upanyas Samrat" ("Emperor among Novelists") by some Hindi writers. His works include more than a dozen novels, around 250 short stories, several essays and translations of a number of foreign literary works into Hindi.

Premchand is considered the first Hindi author whose writings prominently featured realism. His novels describe the problems of the poor and the urban middle-class. His works depict a rationalistic outlook, which views religious values as something that allows the powerful hypocrites to exploit the weak. He used literature for the purpose of arousing public awareness about national and social issues and often wrote about topics related to corruption, child widowhood, prostitution, feudal system, poverty, colonialism and on the India's freedom movement.

Several of his early works, such as A Little Trick and A Moral Victory, satirised the Indians who cooperated with the British colonial government.

In the 1920s, he was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement and the accompanying struggle for social reform. During this period, his works dealt with the social issues such as poverty, zamindari exploitation (Premashram, 1922), dowry system (Nirmala, 1925), educational reform and political oppression (Karmabhumi, 1931).

In his last days, he focused on village life as a stage for complex drama, as seen in his most famous work Godan as well as the short-story collection Kafan (1936).Premchand believed that social realism was the way for Hindi literature, as opposed to the "feminine quality", tenderness and emotion of the contemporary Bengali literature.

Reviews

[shal · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Bade Bhai Sahab" is one of the revered literary works of the legendary Indian writer Prem Chand. It is a light-hearted short tale about the relationship of two brothers written in a serious and innocent tone of the narrator - the younger brother, with overwhelming doses of humor, at the same time, questioning some important and intrinsic issues related with the education system, such as rote learning, teaching quality and expectations, problems pertaining to learning new languages and history etc as well as the tradition which imparts a person qualification to command respect based on his age. The story ends taking a sweet turn when the "Bade Bhai Sahab" lets go of the shackles of his pretensions and joins the younger brother in the kite-flying, a happy reunion.

So, it's a sweet tale worth more than 5 stars without a second thought.

[Vaishnavi Rai · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Bade Baisahab" is a beautiful short story about relationship between two brothers , who live in hostel. It is one of the best short stories ever written.
I personally love this story very much

[Harshvardhan Beniwal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story with a glimpse of satire on Indian education.. it's fun to read... Enjoyable

[Vishal Sudarshanwar]

performed a play

[Nauman Khalid · Rating 5 out of 5]

i think one of the best short story i ever read.it beautifully sums up relationship b/w brothers :)

[Goldi Tewari · Rating 5 out of 5]

'बड़े भाई साहब' मुंशी प्रेमचंद जी की बड़ी ही हास्यप्रधान रचना है। दो भाईयों के बीच की एक बहुत ही प्यारी सी कहानी है जिससे शायद हर कोई सम्बद्ध कर सकता है विशेषकर जिसके कोई छोटे या बड़े भाई-बहन हों। यह कहानी रोचक होने के साथ-साथ तत्कालीन भारतीय शिक्षा व्यवस्था का भी गहन विश्लेषण करती है। कहानी का मेरा सबसे पसंदीदा उद्धरण रहा "खुद बेराह चलूं तो तुम्हारी रक्षा कैसे करूँ?" और सबसे अधिक हंसी मुझे इस वृन्तान्त पर आयी:
"जरा-सी बात पर चार पन्‍ने कैसे लिखें? जो बात एक वाक्‍य में कही जा सके, उसे चार पन्‍ने में लिखने की जरूरत? मैं तो इसे हिमाकत समझता हूं। यह तो समय की किफायत नही, बल्‍कि उसका दुरूपयोग है कि व्‍यर्थ में किसी बात को ठूंस दिया। हम चाहते है, आदमी को जो कुछ कहना हो, चटपट कह दे और अपनी राह ले। मगर नही, आपको चार पन्‍ने रंगने पडेंगे, चाहे जैसे लिखिए और पन्‍ने भी पूरे फुल्‍सकेप आकार के। यह छात्रो पर अत्‍याचार नहीं तो और क्‍या है?"

[Freshmemesoof · Rating 3 out of 5]

मुझे अपने छोटे भाई की याद आगई इस कथा को पढ़ के, मुझे थोड़ा ग़म महसूस हुआ, मेरे बाप पे क्या गुज़रती होगी ।

तालीम तब तक फ़ायदेमंद है जब तक कोई इंसान शिद्दत से पढ़ाई करना चाहे वरना फ़ज़ूल है, मैं अपने ज़िंदगी में देखता हूँ बहुत सारे लोगों को जिनको नाम की डिग्री हासिल करने का मक़सद होता है, वो न ही उस पढ़ाई की क़दर करते हैं और न ही अपने शख़्सियत में कुछ बदलाव लाते हैं तीन-चार बरस की पढ़ाई करने के बाद।
कुछ लोगों को समझ नहीं पाऊँगा और ख़ुशनसीबी भी है कि मुझे समझ नहीं आती 🙏

[Akash Parakh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant nuances of brotherly relationship brought out by the Master. The suffocation & humiliation of one, the simplicity & smartness of the other. Tells a very moving story in a humorous way. Heart touching and that is why 5 stars !!!

[Gunjan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A light-hearted story!

[Swapnil Dwivedi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Satire with some love.
My father recommended this book to me.
One sentence I liked the most
"Tum or me to mahine bhar ka kharch,mahine bhar kaise chalate hai abhi tak ye bhi nahi jante".

[Yusra · Rating 5 out of 5]

the bade bhai is hilarious

[Jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only story written by premchan which was funny that I read.. It's hard to find writting of premchand that's hilarious. Loved it

[Saurabh Singhal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very accurate description of how the insecure elders are used to gaslighting and discouraging the youngsters in the name of teaching them life lessons