In 1895, 15-year-old Dhanpat Rai had not only gone against cultural norms but was actively writing revolutionary fiction against the prevailing British rule in India. Later, he would take on the infamous name Munshi Premchand to mask his identity and continue writing to incite the masses.
Premchand grew up quickly. After losing his mother at 8 years old, he grew up feeling alone and turned to novels, reading writers like Jyotirindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi. These new companions became early influences and led Premchand to write his own stories often with social commentary and revolutionary sentiment.
His influences, however, existed apart from the pages in his novels. With an absent father, much of Premchand’s time was spent with the female members of his family: his stepmother and sister, and later a widow he married at 15 despite the stigma against it. Through observing the women close to him and empathizing with their struggles, he built strong female protagonists in his stories.
In Sevasadan (House of Service), published in 1919, Premchand wrote about the morally ambiguous Suman. Torn between family service and freedom, Suman grappled with the chains of society and joined an urban prostitution ring. Premchand encapsulated Suman’s pain and confusion by contextualizing the violence and discrimination the business put her in in contrast with her restrained but physically safe life at her sister’s home.
While Suman’s story functions as a coming-of-age story with complex moral dilemmas and the individual’s battle with freedom, it also works as a relevant social commentary on the domestic role of women and the immoral treatment of sex workers. Premchand was truly ahead of his time.
While Premchand’s themes were complex, his sentences were short and simple as he aimed to appeal to all literacy levels. In 1908, the British government banned a collection of his patriotic stories. The collection, Soz-e-Watan (The Dirge of the Nation), was deemed “seditious” and burned in front of Premchand’s eyes. After this, he took on the pseudonym Munshi Premchand and began to write seriously, adopting a defining revolutionary attitude.
He rebelled against the British, writing in favor of Gandhi and the non-cooperation movement. However, his revolutionary sentiment was not contained to his pages. Later, he would resign from his government job despite his illness and poverty in favor of the movement–an extremely commendable action.
With censorship running rampant and discussions on equity and equality for all at the forefront of conversation, Premchand is as timely as ever. As a social reformer and revolutionary, he reminds us of the value stories hold, and the importance of standing firm for what one believes in.