कहानियाँ
Over 300 short stories capturing the essence of Indian life with remarkable insight.
100 works in collection
Demonstration (डिमॉन्सट्रेशन) by Munshi Premchand is a sparkling literary satire on artistic vanity, theatrical commercialism, and competitive flattery. When a dilettante playwright and his hype squad stage an elaborate demonstration to fleece a theatrical magnate, they discover that the calculating Seth is an even greater master of psychological manipulation.
Kafan (The Shroud) by Munshi Premchand is a devastating masterpiece following Ghisu and Madhav, an impoverished Dalit father and son whose brutalized existence leads them to spend the funeral shroud money of Madhav's deceased wife on liquor and fried delicacies.
Grih Neeti (Domestic Policy) by Munshi Premchand is a brilliant, progressive domestic satire examining the clash between feudal mother-in-law expectations and modern marital equality. A diplomat husband bridges the generational divide through ingenious psychological tact.
Miss Padma (मिस पद्मा) by Munshi Premchand is an insightful, realistic psychological narrative examining Westernized individualism, free love, and modernity. A wealthy and accomplished female lawyer rejects traditional marriage for an uncommitted live-in relationship, only to experience betrayal, financial ruin, and emotional devastation.
God's Share in Stale Rice (बासी भात में खुदा का साझा) by Premchand explores the psychological torment of Dinanath, a clerk pressured into falsifying accounts to save colleagues' jobs, who ultimately rejects a religion grounded in fear and terror.
Doodh Ka Daam (दूध का दाम) by Munshi Premchand is a devastating indictment of caste untouchability, social hypocrisy, and the exploitation of Dalit labour. Bhungi, a Dalit wet nurse, saves the life of the village landlord's infant son with her own breast milk; yet after her death, her orphaned son Mangal is reduced to surviving on discarded scraps of food.
Nasha (नशा) by Munshi Premchand is a biting satirical masterpiece dissecting class privilege, theoretical radicalism, and the corrupting psychology of feudal power. An impoverished student fiercely opposed to landlords visits his wealthy aristocratic friend's estate, only to succumb completely to the seductive intoxication of arrogance and privilege.
Eidgah by Munshi Premchand is an immortal, tender story of four-year-old orphan Hamid who travels to the Eid fair with three copper coins and selflessly buys a pair of iron tongs (chimta) for his grandmother instead of toys and sweets.
Gulli Danda by Munshi Premchand is an immortal classic contrasting native childhood games with expensive colonial sports, while exploring how adult class status and official rank shatter the pure, uninhibited equality of childhood friendship.
Lottery (लॉटरी) by Munshi Premchand is a witty, psychological satire examining how greed, unearned riches, and hypothetical wealth can corrupt human nature, family loyalty, and lifelong friendship long before a single rupee is actually drawn.
Chamatkar by Munshi Premchand is a psychological masterpiece exploring poverty, moral lapse, and spiritual redemption. When an educated tutor steals bridal jewelry from his generous benefactor, it is not fear of the law, but his wife's moral clarity and his benefactor's boundless trust that awaken his sleeping conscience.
Damul Ka Kaidi by Munshi Premchand is an epic, multi-generational saga of industrial class struggle, capitalist arrogance, spiritual repentance, and ultimate moral redemption. When a ruthless Bombay mill owner shoots a strike leader, the martyr's dying mercy sparks a transformative journey from penal servitude to labor advocacy.