MUNSHI PREMCHAND

Hello,

When in school I had to read a few short stories by this great author. But then reading Hindi was a pain in the 'you know where' and any reading beyond the course books was non existent.

As I was never considered a reading/writing sort of person by my friends I also did not have friends who could reintroduce Hindi Literature into my reading . (My passion for sports & games being so on my sleeve, I have always been considered a person more at ease at pursuit of hobbies in the physical rather than mental.)

Now thanks to the publication of my short story in 'The Shrinking Woman & Other Stories' my old friends who never discussed books have come out of the closet to disclose their liking for reading and have shared their favorites with me.

My friend Supriya Ritwik, reintroduced me to Munshi Premchand.

In one of our several weekend get togethers, we sat together while we discussed the stories of Munshiji. Till then I had vague memories of 'Idgah', 'Poos Ki Raat', 'Bade Bhai Saheb', 'Bade Ghar Ki Beti' and his classics 'Godaan' and 'Nirmala' (more so because of the movies). Due to these exposures I always rated him as a writer who wrote about the darker and melancholy side of life. Mr. Ritwik told me the story of 'Basi Pawroti'. Excellent plot and imagination to a fun tale of misconceived notions.

This discussion has now brought me back into Munshiji's fold and I am in the process of devouring his short stories.

The books by Munshiji are available very cheap in India (Mr. Ritwik told me so) and most of his stories have also found their way on to the internet.

Does anybody have any special list of Munshiji stories. I would love to set a priority in the reading list.

Best regards,
Manoj