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| 'Mantra' by Premchand. |
-Brian Mendonca
Watching students read the stories in Hindi made me marvel at their command over the language. Complex Urdu words, many hyphenated, were reeled off effortlessly as the contestants glided from one sentence to the next. They had 5 minutes to present their story after which a bell sounded. It did not matter if the story was not completed. What was important was to read as much as possible of the story in the given time.
In most cases the story was not competed, and it left the listeners wondering how the story would end. It served to pique the curiosity of the listeners who (hopefully) went and read the story themselves. The stories were of varying levels of difficulty. 'Mantra' seemed simple enough, but others not so.
The digital version of the stories is available online. Some of Premchand's 300 stories in Hindi are available in an online collection by rekhta.org. The website hindwi.org offers the story with each word being a hyperlink. If you do not know the meaning simply click on it and a box with the meaning appears. Sometimes it throws up the message 'Meaning not found.' In some cases you need to understand the context in which the word is used. Example the Hindi word पुआल (Puaal) is more likely to be 'haystack' (Part 3) rather than a tree in Darjeeling, which is the meaning provided.
'Mantra' is one of the less well-known stories of Premchand. In it he stands for the dignity of the poor who are adept in local knowledges in comparison to the acquired knowledge of the rich. The story is skillfully weaved across four sections. At the end it is the self-respect of the marginalized that stands out. Descriptions of the cold winter are vivid as are the movements of the characters bent with age.
In 'Mantra' by I was introduced to these words:
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1
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रहस्य: hidden truth
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तनिक: little
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प्रतिकार: revenge
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कहार: water bearer
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रईस: rich
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मिजाज: (being)
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भाँति: similar
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औषधालय: Pharmacy
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हुक्काम: officers
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निर्दयी: heartless
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आमोद-प्रमोद: hobby
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रमणी: beautiful lady
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ऐब: false
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4
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कलह: quarrel
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जड़ी-बूटियाँ: herbs
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माघ-पूस: winter
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सहसा: suddenly
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वकालत: defense
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दशा: state
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दुत्कार: excuse
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2
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महुअर: flute
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उपदेशक: teacher
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कारसाज़: merciful
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यश: fame
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विलंब: delay
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असाधारण: peculiar
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3
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घातकlife-threatening
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नियमित: regular
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जाड़े: Winter
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गश्त: rounds
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लज्जित: embarrass
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ताक: space to heat
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साइत: timely
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नियत: rule-based
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पुआल: haystack
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क़ाबू: control
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Some of Premchand's stories in English translation are also available online in
Eleven Stories by Premchand. Stories included are '
Vidhwans,' '
Jurmana,' '
Guru Mantra,''
Mukti Marg,' '
Poos ki Raat,' '
Motor ke Chinte,' '
Do Bailon Ki Katha,' 'Thakur Ka Kuan,' 'Bade Bhai Sahib,' 'Nadan Dost,' and
'Garib Ki Hai.'
Rakshanda Jalil has brought out a fine translation of some of Premchand's stories in her collection
The Temple and the Mosque (Harper Collins, 1992). The stories selected are 'The Thakur's Well,' 'Intoxication,' 'The Temple and the Mosque,' 'Salvation,' 'Why do People Marry,' 'A Winter Night,' 'The Price of Milk,' and 'The Secret of Civilization,' 'The Shroud,' 'The Road to Salvation.'
English translations by Gurdial Mallik from
Short Stories of Premchand (Nalanda,1946) are also freely available. The book from the Viswabharati library, Santiniketan, has been scanned by the Internet Archive and is accessible online. The stories include 'My First Composition,' 'The Voice of God.' 'The Village Well,' 'The Daughter-in-law,' 'Two Sisters,' 'Wheel of Fortune,' 'Story of Two Bulls,' 'Laila,' 'The Shroud,' 'The Chess Players,' and 'Requiem.'
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Tulsidas and Premchand Jayanti was observed today by the Hindi Department of Carmel College, Goa, Programmes are usually held to commemorate the birth anniversary of Premchand on 31 July. Pic courtesy Goodreads. Updated 9/8/26.
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