RJ College of Arts & Science

MA Part II (English)
Sem III - Paper V
Course Title: Indian Writing in Translation
Presentation by: Rajalakshmi. V
Roll no. 37
 Two Translated Stories of Munshi
Premchand from Hindi Literature
• 1. Betowali Vidhwa
• 2. Mrutak Bhojan

From the book,

‘Widows, Wives and Other Heroines’ (2001) By
David Rubin
 Summary of Betowali Vidhva
(Widow with Sons)
• Upon her husband Pandit Ayodhyanath’s death, Phulmati comes into possession of one big
house, two orchards, & several thousands in jewels as well as Rs.20000/-cash. She intends to live
comfortably with her loving her 3 married sons, their dutiful obedient wives and one unmarried
son and daughter Kumud. However, on the occasion of the huge feast to be held on the 13th
day of the death, where the Brahmins as well as the village community, are invited, Phulmati
discovers to her dismay and hurt that she is completely unwanted, sidelined. Her own sons
ignore her, none in the family treat her as they would in the past. The mother’s entreaties for a
suitable husband for Kumud is shoved away because of her sons greed,marrying her off to a
man twice as their young sister’s age , all for the sake of a cheap wedding.
• The gradual acceptance of Phulmati’s reality as a burden, her sons who cheat and lie to her to
get her property & jewellery, their greediness to siphon off makes Pulmati detached and non
caring of her health. She starts to work day and night , living like a servant in her own house so
that she may die soon, losing all interest in life. A year later, the inevitable happens and on the
heavily flooded banks of the Ganges, Phulmati on a rainy day goes to fill water for her son. She
slips down the steps while turning back with the pitcher and is drowned in the swollen river.
 Mrutak Bhojan (Funeral Feast)
• Widow Sushila has to face the village panchayat and her husband’s creditors on the fifth day of her
husband Seth Ramnath’s death. He had left her with almost no money due to his illness, save for a big
mansion. However, the leader of the village Panchayat, Seth Dhaniram & the creditor Kuberdas insist on
10000 rs as expenses towards the funeral feast to be held in honor of the dead for the entire community
to be held with pomp & splendour. The plight of the desparate widow is taken advantage of the rest of
the creditors who take away her jewellery and also gain access legally to the ownership of the house. Poor
Sushila on the verge of poverty, driven away from her own home stays with a kind hearted old woman of
low caste & somehow feeds her two children Revati & Mohan. However, her son’s raging fever, caring for
him Sushila succumbs to the very illness. Thereafter, the old woman looks after the children like her own.
• Three years pass by, Revati grows up to be a very loving and caring young girl. She helps the old woman in
the household and also tends her shop. Seth Jhabarmal who is a widower, shows his keenness to marry
Revati who is still underage but his lust for the girl alongwith the insistence of the Panchayat Head , Seth
Dhaniram, to marry Jhabarmal, drives Revati to commit suicide since she sees no other way to escape her
predicament. The panchayat head had threatened her with legal action and so early next morning, Revati
gives up her life in the Ganges river despite her anxieties about her young brother.
• In the end, Seth Jabharmal though slightly sad is still hoping for some other woman to marry him while
Mohan is weeping uncontrollably on hearing the news of his beloved sister’s death. The old woman
remains firm in her motherly love for him, protecting and also consoling him.
 Themes of both short stories
• Greed : In Widow with sons, the entire family and their obsessive greed is the agent of
destruction. Whereas, in Mrutak Bhojan, the entire community uses its traditions to commit a
crime against a helpless individual.
• Nonacceptance & Rigidity : Sushila’s plea to the panchayat requesting for a feast for only
the Brahmins and not for the community (biradari) is considered as a sacrilege and tradition
has to be rigidly adhered to , despite the apparent poverty of the widow and her unfortunate
children. In case of Phulmati,(Betowali Vidhva) the old widow is not accepted by the
community as a responsible member and only deal with the sons. As a mother also or as a
woman, the family itself shuns her after deceitfully taking away her wealth. A noncaring
community after the funeral feast leaves Phulmati to her fate as a helpless woman.
• Death : Premchand portrays the helplessness of these destitute women, who faced with no
other option use suicide as a means of escape from their desparate reality where the
community or family exploits them ruthlessly and couldn’t care less even after their death.
 Translation from Hindi to English of both stories
• The Hindi original text has excellent dialogues which build up the climax at the very start of
story of Mrutak Bhojan, however there are factal inaccuracies in the English text such as the
mortagage amount is actually Rs10000 only whereas the English version is mentioned as
Rs.25000/-.
• The Hindi original text in the story Betowali Vidhwa mentions clearly that Phulmati’s eldest son
Kamtanath was down with typhoid for nearly a month whereas the English text mentions it as
six months.
• Glaring factual discrepancies apart, the English text has been very well written in parts and
somewhere in the middle of the texts, we can see the story loses its grip due to the difficulty of
translation.
• Grammar and also the use of metaphors,idioms etc by Premchand is lost in translation since
there cannot be exact description in English such as use of the word Biradari, amriti,
expressions such as ‘hile rozi, bahane maut’ etc. However, the author to his credit has used
small footnotes at the end of the stories and given a brief explanation which is useful to non
Indian readers. The small explanations in the texts guides the reader back to the story since the
Hindi language used by the author is colloquial in nature and not formal.
 A brief analysis of the stories, author’s view point
• Betowali Vidhwa taken from Premchand’s collection of short stories from Manasarovar , Volume 1 ,
Mrutak Bhojan from Mansrovar Volume 4, both represent Premchand’s effective technique and
successful writing of short stories.
• Premchand does not go too deep into character analysis but delves deep enough to bring out the
motivations, aspirations of his central characters so that the reader is able to connect with the
protagonists. He keeps the pace of the short stories with good dialogues, charming and colloquial Hindi
and the story never fails to move forward so that the reader is left with a sense of wonder till the end.
• Almost all stories are in third person , omniscient narrator and therefore, give the audience enough space
to make up their own judgements.
• Premchand does not make any statements, direct criticism but cleverly weaves the plot and his characters
with the issue or message that he wishes to convey, therefore, there is clarity as to the issues or reality
which the author wishes to show.
• There is lot of emotional buildup in the characters which contributes to the success of the story / stories.
The depiction of women and their plight is carried out well without being too condescending or without
any carelessness. Premchand’s idealisation of women comes out here bring respect to his helpless female
characters.
 Munshi Premchand
• Dhanpat Rai Srivastava(31/7/1880 – 8/10/1936) also known as Munshi Premchand was the famous
Indian writer of India and most celebrated too. A novel writer, story writer and dramatist, he has been
referred to as the "Upanyas Samrat" ("Emperor among Novelists") by writers. His works include more
than a dozen novels, around 300 short stories, several essays and translations of a number of foreign
literary works into Hindi.
• 1905, Premchand’s fiction in Hindi and Urdu changed the typical Hindi fiction to a much more
meaningful and social one. Influenced by Chekov, Maxim Gorky , Tolstoy and Dickens, Premchand
directed early on, in his writing career towards social reform.
• Caste hierarchies , plight of women were constant themes whereas initially the romantic heroism of the
earlier tales such as Bazaar E Husn to Mansarovar, Rangbhumi etc, slowly changed towards realistic
studies of character. an idealistic view of British Oppression with cutting satire on Indians serving
Britishers.
• Social issues such as religious intolerance,corruption and exploitation especially by the society is
depicted in his famous stories such as Godan, Nirmala, Kafan, etc.
• Believed in social realism, genuine innovator due to his political conviction.
• Theme, idea and content of short stories written for common man who has neither money or time.
Simplicity and fascinating should be blended according to Munshi Premchand.