Munshi Premchand rose to fame as a prominent novelist during the British rule in India. He was seeking to invoke patriotism among the Indian masses through his writings. In those days, it had always been the British Government’s strategy to try to lure Indian intelligentsia into becoming the supporters of the British Raj by offering them lucrative jobs, positions, titles, etc. The government feared that Premchand’s work might incite a spirit of revolt among the Indians. Sir Malcolm Hailey, the then Governor of Uttar Pradesh, devised a trick to win Munshi Premchand’s favour. In those days, the title of ‘Rai Saheb’ was regarded as the most acclaimed honour the government would ever give to anybody. Scores of well-educated but naïve people used to mistakenly regard the award as a very special honour. But Premchand immediately sensed the reason why he was being offered the prestigious award. Meanwhile, a British Officer had already delivered the award along with a huge sum of money to Premchand’s house. The Officer conveyed a message that it was a reward from the Honourable Governor who had been deeply impressed by Premchand’s work. Upon reaching home, Premchand came to know about the award and the big sum of money delivered to his house. His wife was so happy that it would help to ease their financial difficulties. However, Premchand was grief-stricken. He said, “It makes me feel really ashamed that you gave in to temptation despite being the wife of a patriot.” Premchand immediately went to the Governor and politely handed the money and the award over to him. He said “Sir, Many thanks for your sympathy but I cannot accept your gift. My love for the country means much more to me than any amount of money or fame whatsoever. I don’t want to become a traitor by accepting your gift.” -
Posted on: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 22:55:31 +0000
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