Pen named as Munshi Premchand and Nawabrai in the Hindi and Urdu literature respectively,

Premchand’s real name was Dhanpat Rai Srivastava. He was born on 31st July of 1880, near
Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. He wrote during a time when Colonialism existed and India was on
its rise for the freedom struggle. Among the contemporary writers of that time, he became very
famous with his short stories, novels, essays and plays. Though he belonged to a non- Dalit
community, his works more or less were centred towards oppression of the oppressed, the
power play in relations and gender and the social conditions in which women lived that time.
Premchand’s writings are well known for his realism, the realistic understanding of caste
oppression in the countryside and the vivid portrayal on the lives of the lower castes and the
untouchables, now known as Dalits. He also added idealism to his writings. Prior to that the
Indian literature mainly included the writings based on religion, the divine sacredness and the
life of the monarchy and elite group. Merely any attention was given to the common people.
Premchand mirrored the complex social life of his times and depicted the doings of the ordinary
people in a familiar setting. His characters are ordinary men and women, running their normal
course of life with their joys and sorrows, their strengths and weaknesses. He wrote in a very
simple language which is very convenient to understand and easy to comprehend, making it
accessible to a wide range of readers. The use of the local words such as “faake”, “byah”,
“dokhaj”, “dasha”, “beda” brings that very essence of the story of what can be called the
“Premchand narration”. The author has a good hold over humour and satire, showing a mix of
emotions in the person’s mind as well as showing the distinctiveness of it at the same time. The
peasantry found in him a great exponent to their cause and this is how Premchand became the
medium for the subaltern.
This short story belongs to the genre of fiction written in the form of a conversation between a
father and a son. However, both father and son are presented in a negative light. Ghisu is an old
man in his sixties surviving under folds of poverty. He is held responsible for his plight as he is
not hardworking, lazy and a slothful slacker. People consider him untrustworthy but he too
possess the art of manipulation to get things done. Where he loves his son, he has also
downgraded the position of his daughter-in-law to the level of a creature taking care of the
household and meant for production of children. But towards the end the way he prays for her
to get a place in heaven for being good to them all her life which shows his soft corner for
humanity. Madho, the son was following the steps of his father, becoming a lazy slacker, just
concerned about the hunger. He played a role of irresponsible husband, leaving Budhia when
she needed him the most. The sufferings which he went through in poverty has completely
dehumanised him from any morality. Budhia was a victim of the unfortunate situation for being
Madho’s wife. She has suffered a lot. She sacrificed almost everything, even herself for sake of
her husband and father-in-law. Fate can also be a factor for her condition that didn’t even let
her receive a shroud after she died.
The story is an example, but there are certain generalisations which can be made with respect
to all his works. Premchand realized that the language of nationalism was a language of
transformation of the society. Thus he attacked the semi-feudal system strongly and depicted
the contradiction between the landlords and the peasantry. He details the circumstances
emerged due to poverty and how it affects the people of lower strata, especially the
untouchables. These people are not supposed to interfere the upper caste society and
unquestioningly follow the norms and rules defined by them. Where they served the other
people, they themselves were devoid of any service of humanity. Some stories like “Miaku”,
“Poos ki raat” are example of this.
Through Kafan, Premchand’s intention is not to portray the conditions of Dalits but to bring the
sharp realities of the feudal colonial exploitation. It is often said that lower caste people don’t
have any belongingness with family which is so not true. It is that in this whole process of
subjugation and oppression, they are now exhausted. Their consciousness towards morality is
somewhat eliminated.
Coming towards the conclusion, it can be said that along with contemporary writers such as
Rabindranath Tagore, Manu Bhandari, Dharamvir Bharti, Munshi Premchand contributed a lot
in the field of literature, especially in Hindi and Urdu literature which was largely dominated by
the sacred texts. It cannot be said that whatever he presented is a true reflection. It can be
biased. But still it can be considered as a literary piece which helps us to understand a particular
issue from different perspectives. He not only details the political complications but also
critiques the human life as a whole.