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21 अनमोल कहानियां
With Premchand's versatile writing skill, the stories took a valuable space in indian literature. This book is an integration of 21 stories by Munshi Premchand, some of them are Ansuon ki holi, Namak ka Daroga, Shatranj ke Khiladi and many more.
- GenresShort StoriesClassics
208 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 6, 2017
83 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
Munshi Premchand
1,156 books1,155 followersMunshi 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 18, 2021
Each of the 21 stories can be a book in itself. They have so much in them that it saps you and entwines you in the relationships. These relationships between friends, between brothers, mother and son, mother and her maternal love etc are deeply explored and layers unpeeled.
How and why people behaved 100 years ago still resonate so closely as cultural and behavioural changes are hard to come by.
How and why people behaved 100 years ago still resonate so closely as cultural and behavioural changes are hard to come by.
March 12, 2021
Prem chand is an amazing writer. I remember doing a project on "poos ki ek raat" story during my school days. This book brings back memories of those days.
He wonderfully weaves the character of each and every story. The best part of it is the portrayal of women. In different stories, women are shown possessing formidable strength and courage. Be it Subhadra from Sohag ka shav, who took a courangeous, long and ardous journey to a foriegn land for love, despite not being educated enough manages her finances well, but never did she compromise with her self respect and dignity. Nohari from Samar ki Yatra brings leadership to the village based freedom struggle in the older and probabily last days of her life. Gangi in Thakuro lka kuan, struggles alone to get her hiusband clean drinking water in the middle of night in an oppressive, caste segregated and exploitative society. The story Mata ka Hriday brings out a variety of traits of Madhavi in different scenarios. She starts from being a vengeful mother waiting to take revenge for her son to doing and praying for the exact opposite as the story progresses. The stories are full of such women characters possessing ultimate strength within themselves.
Since the stories were mostly written in the early decades of twentieth century, the influence of independence movement is presented very well. Maiku, Samar yatra, Suhag ki sadi and Anubhav bring out the lives of common people during those revolutionary and politically charged times.
The relationships of different kinds are displayed very beautifully. The relationship between boodhi kaki and laadli in boodhi kaaki is an adorable grandmother-granddaughter pair. Beti ka dhan presents the dedication and attachment in the father- daughter relationship. In Kaptaan sahab, the trajectory of a father-son relationship from being turbulent and full of distrust to the being each other's support system is beautifully shown. The thaw between the relationship of two brothers and their story of growing apart is told in Do Bhai. The motherly affection and the pain of separation from children is displayed by two mothers in different ways is shown in Mata ka hriday. The relationship needs and betray is shown in a sensitive manner in Miss Padma. The friendship between a woman supporting the other during difficult times and making her at home is displayed in Andher. Even when they had to struggle a lot, they show ultimate courage to stand for what is right and help the lady in need. Even after this the couple who are helping the lady tell her that she need not worry as she is the one helping them with her pious company.
Different characters display different values and choose different paths for themselves. The influence of values on one's life are very empathetically shown. The feeling of guilt overiding one's favorite festival is displayed in Ansuo ki holi. The virtue of righteousness and honesty is ultimately rewarded in long term in the story Namak ka Daroga. The shrugging off of one's responsibility and irresponsible behaviour is shown in Shatranj ke Khiladi. Similar traits of lack of empathy, compassion and honesty are shown in Kafan. The guilt of a lie and facing the truth with strength is displayed in Sohag ka shav. The evils of casteism are shown by the pain that the protagonist endures to get her husband drinking water is displayed in Thakuro ka kuan.
The beauty of Prem chand's stories is the realistic display of humans and their lives. Most of the stories pertain to middle class or poor people and their lives. Each character traverse a unique trajectory of characteristic values.
No matter how old these stories have become, they will stay ever relevant due to the beautiful portrayal of humans as inherently flawed. They display a variety of values. No person can be defined by a single value or trait. We are what our decisions make us. Each decision strenthens or weakens our values.Human are ever evolving.
A great reading overall. Totally loved it!
He wonderfully weaves the character of each and every story. The best part of it is the portrayal of women. In different stories, women are shown possessing formidable strength and courage. Be it Subhadra from Sohag ka shav, who took a courangeous, long and ardous journey to a foriegn land for love, despite not being educated enough manages her finances well, but never did she compromise with her self respect and dignity. Nohari from Samar ki Yatra brings leadership to the village based freedom struggle in the older and probabily last days of her life. Gangi in Thakuro lka kuan, struggles alone to get her hiusband clean drinking water in the middle of night in an oppressive, caste segregated and exploitative society. The story Mata ka Hriday brings out a variety of traits of Madhavi in different scenarios. She starts from being a vengeful mother waiting to take revenge for her son to doing and praying for the exact opposite as the story progresses. The stories are full of such women characters possessing ultimate strength within themselves.
Since the stories were mostly written in the early decades of twentieth century, the influence of independence movement is presented very well. Maiku, Samar yatra, Suhag ki sadi and Anubhav bring out the lives of common people during those revolutionary and politically charged times.
The relationships of different kinds are displayed very beautifully. The relationship between boodhi kaki and laadli in boodhi kaaki is an adorable grandmother-granddaughter pair. Beti ka dhan presents the dedication and attachment in the father- daughter relationship. In Kaptaan sahab, the trajectory of a father-son relationship from being turbulent and full of distrust to the being each other's support system is beautifully shown. The thaw between the relationship of two brothers and their story of growing apart is told in Do Bhai. The motherly affection and the pain of separation from children is displayed by two mothers in different ways is shown in Mata ka hriday. The relationship needs and betray is shown in a sensitive manner in Miss Padma. The friendship between a woman supporting the other during difficult times and making her at home is displayed in Andher. Even when they had to struggle a lot, they show ultimate courage to stand for what is right and help the lady in need. Even after this the couple who are helping the lady tell her that she need not worry as she is the one helping them with her pious company.
Different characters display different values and choose different paths for themselves. The influence of values on one's life are very empathetically shown. The feeling of guilt overiding one's favorite festival is displayed in Ansuo ki holi. The virtue of righteousness and honesty is ultimately rewarded in long term in the story Namak ka Daroga. The shrugging off of one's responsibility and irresponsible behaviour is shown in Shatranj ke Khiladi. Similar traits of lack of empathy, compassion and honesty are shown in Kafan. The guilt of a lie and facing the truth with strength is displayed in Sohag ka shav. The evils of casteism are shown by the pain that the protagonist endures to get her husband drinking water is displayed in Thakuro ka kuan.
The beauty of Prem chand's stories is the realistic display of humans and their lives. Most of the stories pertain to middle class or poor people and their lives. Each character traverse a unique trajectory of characteristic values.
No matter how old these stories have become, they will stay ever relevant due to the beautiful portrayal of humans as inherently flawed. They display a variety of values. No person can be defined by a single value or trait. We are what our decisions make us. Each decision strenthens or weakens our values.Human are ever evolving.
A great reading overall. Totally loved it!
April 22, 2018
This book is highly recommended if you wish to discover the genius of Premchand's simple yet very powerful writing!
It is an excellent collection covering some of the best stories written by Munshi Ji over a wide range of subjects.
The stories seem so relevant even today in spite of the fact that they were written around 100 years ago!
They give such an insightful glimpse of the pre-independence era and all the stories have a bit of background of the struggle for our independence. Also it is interesting to read about the social fabric of the nation during those times and how it compares to the India of today. You'll be surprised (just like I was) by the progressive thought that existed even then, in fact a bit more than what we have today!
The stories stay with you for a long time as they touch you at certain levels which are hard to explain! There is no pretence, no melodrama! Just bare, unabashed, right-in-your-face human emotion!
I would sincerely recommend to read these stories in Hindi even if there are translated versions available to savour the true essence of Premchand's writing. So glad that I read this book :-)
It is an excellent collection covering some of the best stories written by Munshi Ji over a wide range of subjects.
The stories seem so relevant even today in spite of the fact that they were written around 100 years ago!
They give such an insightful glimpse of the pre-independence era and all the stories have a bit of background of the struggle for our independence. Also it is interesting to read about the social fabric of the nation during those times and how it compares to the India of today. You'll be surprised (just like I was) by the progressive thought that existed even then, in fact a bit more than what we have today!
The stories stay with you for a long time as they touch you at certain levels which are hard to explain! There is no pretence, no melodrama! Just bare, unabashed, right-in-your-face human emotion!
I would sincerely recommend to read these stories in Hindi even if there are translated versions available to savour the true essence of Premchand's writing. So glad that I read this book :-)
August 31, 2020
This book is a collection of 21 short meaningful stories written over a spread of 200 pages. Munshi Premchand is prolific Indian author who's style is simple, stories are characterized by realism and authentic introspection of Indian society.
Many childhood memories flashed while reading few stories which were a part of school book short stories. Also mesmerizing is the way the author describes about the land, people a common man's struggle & so many things in a very humble way, it really takes you into another world of calmness.
Many childhood memories flashed while reading few stories which were a part of school book short stories. Also mesmerizing is the way the author describes about the land, people a common man's struggle & so many things in a very humble way, it really takes you into another world of calmness.
August 20, 2018
Lot of typos in this version
Stories are classic. However, there are lot of typos in tho version. A new reader may attribute these errors to author, which will not be correct. Further, typos distract from pleasure of reading.
Stories are classic. However, there are lot of typos in tho version. A new reader may attribute these errors to author, which will not be correct. Further, typos distract from pleasure of reading.
May 22, 2021
Great short stories in hindi from pre-independence era. Premchand captured essence of rural India. His stories of caste discrimination, oppression of poor in India is still relevant as it was century ago.
The female characters are strong and play important roles in stories.
The female characters are strong and play important roles in stories.
November 15, 2017
I will be reading this gem again and again.
January 5, 2018
Touching
Stories written almost 100 years back, are still equally relevant.
Very touching stories.
Some stories even can make a person cry!
Stories written almost 100 years back, are still equally relevant.
Very touching stories.
Some stories even can make a person cry!
January 12, 2022
Beautiful stories which are everlasting as they are all human emotions and the choices we make based on our values.
January 3, 2019
Has some great short stories with quite rich hindi. For non hindi speakers it will be good to have some explanations of the heavy idioms used in practically every sentence.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews