First of all a very big sorry for posting this one under this category. Actually I didn’t found any suitable category under which I could post this one and this one seemed to be the closest. And yes, I have posted this one before too but due to MS getting renovated it got lost.
I’m not much into reading novels and most of the times I stick to reading short stories. So here is a list of few great stories which are my favourites.
IDGAH by Premchand
“A writer rooted in his time, Prem Chand was a novelist who saw his medium as an instrument of social change. His realistic portrayal of the life and times of India in the 20th century has an unmistakable strain of idealism.” One of Hindi’s most famous novelist, Premchand contribution to hindi and urdu literature is immense. He is considered to be the pioneer of the Afsana or the urdu stories. Premchand’s writings echo life and for him literature was not a mental luxary or a matter of word play but according to him literature had a social role to play and could remain significant only if it zealously guarded its relevance to life. As is evident from his works, Premchand wanted to bring fiction closer to reality and wanted literature to reflect the tensions of a changing society.
Idgah is my childhood favourite. A simple and touching story of a child who goes to the village fair and instead of bringing any toys or sweets for himself, he brings a pair of tongs for his grandma so that she no longer burns her fingers. Simple very simple, but then that’s the beauty of this tender story. Perhaps a tear will fall as you finish the story, a tear to celebrate the joy of life.
DO CHECK OUT Different volumes of Maansarovar, Premchand’s short story collection and do read other classic stories like kafan(the Shroud), Poos ki Raat(the Night of Winter), Sawa Seer Gehun(A Kilo and Quarter of Wheat) and several others, all giving insight of the social aspects of pre-independence era and all majestically artistic and rich in content.
TEESRI KASAM URF MAARE GAYE GULFAM by Fanishwar Nath Renu
Many of us have seen the classic 1966 Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rahman starrer TEESRI KASAM and if the movie was class the original is even better. Renu ji is often considered to be the most worthy successor of Munshi Premchand. Set in rustic lands of eastern U.P. and bihar, this beautiful story is about a simple and lovable bullock cart puller Hiraman and his three vows. The writer effortlessly brings out Hiraman’s mental state and feelings for Hirabai, who is a dancer at a Nautanki company which ofcourse is not considered as a very respectful job. Renu ji’s characterstic scene creating abilities are at best in this story where he very nicely creates the rural backdrop in which the story is set. He delicately and sensitively potrays the relationship between the two main patragonists of the story. In the end you’ll be simply left spellbounded by the character Hiraman’s simplicity and the reader can very well feel the pain and hurt that’s left with him.
DO CHECK OUT Rasul Mistiri and Ek Aadim Ratri Ki Mehak and also his world famous novel Maila Aanchal which has been translated to several languages including English.
VAISHALI KI NAGARVADHU by Acharya Chatursen
Acharya Chatursen Shastri is considered to be the first person to write history based fiction in hindi and it was this very novel, which gave him this legendary status. Set in the age of janapadas and mahajanapadas, this one is about Aamrapali who by ill-fortune is made the NagarVadhu ie the City queen of the kingdom of Vaishali. According to the so called communistic rules of the kingdom the most beautiful woman of the kingdom can’t be the property of a single person and is thus made the city queen or simply a state branded wh*re. The story then moves around her revenge against the state of Vaishali for which she attracts the mighty king of the great kingdom of Magadha; Ajatshatru and then finally once her revenge is complete she denounces the whole wealth and kingdom to embrace Buddhism.
The novel though set in historic times is still very modern in theme talking of women liberalization and women power. Its also often considered to be a great critic of communalism prevalent in ancient times. And yes, this one is extreamly rich both content and language wise. Look out when writer beautifully describes the huge palaces and houses. His description of Aamrapali’s beauty is superb and breathtaking and all this becomes even more admirable when one considers the fact that this story was written in 1948 which of course was never the age of kings and kingdoms.
DO CHECK OUT His other history inspired classics like Dukhva Main Ka Se Kahoon, Somnath and VyamRaksham. Simply outstanding.
JEEP PAR SAWAR ILLIYAN by Sharad Joshi
Great humour and wit, this one talks about the prevalent way of working of our government machinery. The author compares the government officials with illiyan(Leeches) and the common man as Chane ka khet. This whole setting is so hilarious and yet so thought provoking. In all a message very well conveyed. A lil’ about Sharad Joshi. Sharad Joshi is considered to be one of the big wigs of humour writing using prose rather then poetry which in India is more common way of expressing humour. He was awarded with many awards including the Padamshri. His association with cinema and TV is also worth mentioning. It was he who penned the classic movies like Utsav and Chotti Si Baat and yes the all time great serials of Indian Television; Yeh Jo Hai Jindagi, Wah Janaab and Daane Anar Ke.
DO CHECK OUT His classic plays Andho Ka Haathi *(Elephant of the blinds) and *Ek Gadha Urf Alladad Khan.
So friends this is a list of few classic hindi stories. Surprisingly no Gurudev Tagores entry.but the reason is simple I haven’t read many so cant comment. However there are still some very good ones left like AnandMath and others plus a lot of contemporary greats like Ruskin Bond etc etc. So will try to try about them to, but not right now as the word limit doesn’t allow me to do so.