कहानियाँ
Page 5 of 9 — Over 300 short stories capturing the essence of Indian life with remarkable insight.
100 works in collection
Guru Mantra by Munshi Premchand is a hilarious, razor-sharp satire on religious hypocrisy and counterfeit asceticism. Frustrated by domestic quarrels and a lack of feast invitations, a Brahmin decides to become a sadhu—only to be exposed when he fails to smoke a cannabis pipe.
A scorching, profound satire by Munshi Premchand laying bare the moral bankruptcy of religious communalism. Jamid, a simple-hearted Muslim villager whose only faith is active compassion, is embraced by Hindu temple devotees as a prize convert, beaten when he defends a weak old Muslim from a bully, and then recruited by an Islamic Qazi—only to risk his life rescuing an abducted Hindu woman from forced conversion.
Kazaki by Munshi Premchand is an indelible childhood memoir celebrating the profound, pure bond between a young boy and Kazaki, a cheerful, courageous Pasi postal mail-runner whose innate dignity, self-respect, and loving heart remain luminous even when dismissed from service.
Mantra (The Sacred Incantation) by Munshi Premchand is a powerful story of ideological transformation and spiritual awakening. Pandit Leeladhar Choube, an arrogant, gluttonous preacher of the Hindu-Sabha championing the Shuddhi movement, is physically broken, saved from death, and nursed back to health by the very Dalit outcasts he considered untouchable—discovering that true religion lies in selfless service, not hollow speeches.
Ramleela by Munshi Premchand is a poignant coming-of-age masterpiece exploring childhood devotion vs. adult hypocrisy. A boy worships the young actor playing Lord Rama with selfless love, only to discover the moral hypocrisy of town elders who deny travel expenses to sacred performers while squandering gold on a courtesan.
Shudra by Munshi Premchand is a tragic masterpiece exposing the horrors of the Indian indentured labor system (Girmitiya) and colonial plantation exploitation. Tricked by a deceptive recruiter into believing her missing husband Mangru has summoned her, young Gaura is transported overseas to Mauritius, where she faces colonial violence, racial oppression, and sexual coercion.
Bhade Ka Tattoo by Munshi Premchand is a biting story of moral hypocrisy, political activism, and judicial cowardice. A colonial judge who once boasted of high moral principles refuses to save his innocent revolutionary friend to protect his job, only to defend him years later for a massive legal fee.
Dand (The Punishment) by Munshi Premchand is a dark social satire exposing judicial hypocrisy, bribery, and the crushing cruelty of caste boycott. When a judge takes a bribe and the litigant dies on a protest fast outside his home, the community excommunicates him—inflicting the real punishment not on the corrupt judge, but upon his innocent teenage daughter.
Decree Ke Rupaye (The Decree Money) by Munshi Premchand is an emotionally complex masterpiece on friendship, administrative corruption, and journalistic duty. When an honest editor exposes a twenty-thousand-rupee bribe taken by his closest friend to save a young noble, a defamation decree threatens his family with total ruin—until true affection transcends moral devastation.
Dhikkar by Munshi Premchand is a powerful historical allegory about treason, crowd psychology, and supreme national duty. When a priestess's son sells military secrets to the enemy for luxury, the mother chooses her country over maternal love, sealing her son inside a temple.
Munshi Premchand's magnificent historical tale of Umm-tul-Habib, a valiant Ottoman woman warrior disguised as a young commander who confronts the terrifying conqueror Amir Tamerlane, transforms his ruthless tyranny with compassion and justice, and reigns as the queen of his heart.
Sabhyata Ka Rahasya by Munshi Premchand is a biting social satire on class privilege, moral hypocrisy, and corruption. Rai Ratan Kishore, a respected colonial magistrate, accepts a twenty-thousand-rupee bribe to grant bail to a wealthy murderer while sentencing his poor servant Damri to six months of hard labor for cutting a handful of grass to feed his starving bullocks.