Book Review: Prem Chand k 13 Behtreen Afsaanay

For those of you who don't know Urdu, this book claims to have the 13 best Short stories by Prem Chand, the famous Hindu Urdu writer of the Subcontinent. Following is the list of stories included in the book:

1. Kaffan
2. Sila e Matam
3. Baray Ghar ki Beti
4. Haj e Akbar
5. Nayi Biwi
6. Zaad e Rah
7. Do Bel
8. Eid Gah
9. Burhi Kaki
10. Sawa Seer Gehun
11. Insaan ki Qeemat
12. Chori
13. Pos ki Rat

Prem Chand is one of those writers who exhibit the quality of writing both complox and obscure topics as well as about simple things in life simultaneously. And because of this reason, his writing is quite unpredictable. Most of his stories included in this collection have simple themes related to daily household issues faced by people which makes reading this book very interesting. He often makes the usual skirmishes between family members, whether they be husband or wife or brothers or sisters, the subject of his tales. Reading it makes you realize how good of an observation he possessed to be able to fictionalize such mundane matters. And because the subject matter of his stories is usually very simple, his writing also appears to have quite a flow and simplicity to it. What I mean to say by it is that these stories can be read by people of all ages.

 Sometimes, however, his writing reeks of an overdose of sentimentality and melodrama which I absolutely do not like. I don't know if it's because of the general temperament of the people of the Subcontinent, or if it's the writer's own style of writing, but I sometimes felt like his writing seemed a bit too contrived to me. Actually, it wasn't the writing itself which felt that way, but the sentimentality that it was infused with. Another thing I found about his writing is that it is didactic and moralistic most of the times. I think it's due to the demands of the period that he was writing in. But I felt it to be quite unnerving because you seldom come across classical Urdu writers who tend to moralize or teach in their fiction. They usually exhibit quite a callous nonchalance towards the norms and values of the culture they belong to and write what they must. Good examples of such Urdu writers are Manto, Iqbal etc. So it was kind of strange seeing Prem Chand write so meekly, conforming to the time and place that he belonged to. But it also tells you one very important thing about the writer, and that is that he never wanted to stand out or to appear scholarly to his people. He rather wrote honestly and simply, without caring to appear like a heaven-sent philosopher.

This is pretty much all I've got to say about the book. I hope you enjoyed reading my little review ☺️