Plight of Indian Farmers Depicted Through Premchand’s ‘Godaan’

 

Meghna Kantharia

Academician, Shri Govind Guru University, Godhra (Gujarat)

 

ABSTRACT:

Peasants are the backbone of Indian economy. These peasants have always been treated as outsiders who are destined to live in material and cultural margins. Years back, Premchand chose to discuss the rural sector of the Indian population – their lives, problems, hopes and aspirations.The detailed study of the novel, Godaan, refreshes the insight it provides of the Indian farmers, how the individual farmers are victimized in the hands of the representatives of powerful oppressive social institutions.A close-reading ofGodaanbrings to light the most surprising as well as shocking realization that nothing has changed in farmers’ lives.Thus, Premchand depicts the suffering of the peasants that was common in those days. A critical analysis of Godaan can help us to understand the cobweb that has trapped the Indian farmer at the node of poverty, migration, deprivation, and despair.

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

Literature is the mirror of the society as it reflects both its good as well as bad image. From last few decades, Hindi literature has been a reflection of the past years. It has become the voice of the marginalized. The writers have shifted the class character. It is now no more the language of the Brahmins or the upper class sensibility but it is flourishing as a language of Dalits, Adivasis and the marginalized people. A true writer draws his reader’s attention to every aspect of the society. And in Hindi literature, one such realistic and socially committed writer is Munshi Premchand.

 

ABOUT THE WRITER:

Munshi Premchand is one of the leading Hindi fiction writer of pre-Independence India. He lived in an era of socio-economic changes which made him concerned about the social issues prevailing in the society. He developed a great understanding of literature which led him towards writing on the different contemporary issues, which were being faced by his times. Through his writings, he aimed to eradicate the social evils and to establish an ideal society. He believed that a man is good and noble but his environment affects and corrupts him. His ideals, characters, and themes originated from the real world. He wrote many novels which revolve around the social issues. His novels presentthe lower class people living in the Indian society, their struggles and the ways in which they are harassed.

 

Social Discussion in Premchand’s novel Godaan:

Godaan (1936), Premchand’s last novel, was written at the time when Indians were engaged in the freedom struggle and the Indian society was facing social, political, economic and cultural problems. The novel portrays the realities of the life of a poor peasant. It forms a social document that traces the economic conditions of Indian peasantryand put light on the violence that erupts out of the divergence between the lower castes and the upper castes. It reveals injustice done to the lower castes by those social standards and rules laid down by the upper castes and class.

 

A.    Plights of the Farmer:

Premchanddraws our attention to the plight of the poorandilliterate farmer through hisportrayal of the life of an ordinary farmer named HoriMahato.The story is set in Belari, a small, poverty-stricken village of North India.The depiction of the village in Godan is as follows:

“What was the village, it was Providence, ten to twelve houses, whose roof was half-tiled, and collapsing further.”

 

Hori, the protagonist, is entrappedbetween feeding his family with his meagre earnings, and on the other hand, trying to pay off the numerous debts to the officials. He is not even able toprotest against the system and suffers throughout his life. He is a typicalcharacter who represents the basics traits ofthe Indian peasantry and the manners in which the peasantsare merely a puppet in the hands of rich and wealthy people like the Zamindars and the money-lenders. These money-lenders later exploit farmers capturing them with the false ideas of religion. In the novel, Hori himself expresses: “A man is not a man without wealth and power and education. We are no better than bullocks, born to be yoked”.

 

Povertyis a biggest problem for the Indian villagers. The consequences of poverty makes them stuck into the money lending system which leads the peasants to indebtednessthat is an important socio-economic aspect behind theill-treatmentof the peasants and their families.For instance from the novel, the protagonist, Hori suffersfrom extreme poverty:

 

“Even though Hori had to pay the entire barn of this crop, there was still a loan of threehundred rupees remaining, and an addition of a hundred rupees as interest. Five yearsago, he had taken sixty rupees to purchase a bull, he had paid it, but the sixty rupees isstill remaining because of the interest added. Hori had grown potatoes with the money thirty rupees taken from PanditDaatadin. The potatoes were dug up by thieves, and he completed paying it on installments, in the three year period, a hundred rupees had beenadded as interest.”

 

Further, the peasants are at the forbearanceof not a singleperson but several different persons who acts greedy and never miss any opportunity to rob the poor man of all he has. The Zamindars collected the revenue and imposed fine. Hori, too, is fined by ZamindarRai Saheb for the death of the cow, though he did not kill it. Throughout the novel, Hori tackles to earn alone making some profit in the whole activity, but is forced to become a wage’s workerworking on his own field merely as a bonded worker. Hori describes the situationin these words:

 

“You know how many people here in the village have been thrown off their land or had their property taken away. When, someone’s heel is on your neck, it’s best to keep licking his feet.”

 

When Hori loses his bullocks to a moneylender, he is left with no seeds to sow and allows another man to cultivate his land. Later, he is unable to pay the debts in time and with the passage of time it gets multiplied and he is trapped in debts and suffers until the end of the novel. In the novel, Mr. Shah gets sold his debtor, Hori’s harvest, whereasDaatadin makes Horiworks on his field and takes 200 rupees for a loan of 30 rupees. But his hard work, to overcome his poor condition, makes him sick and he dies. His dream to possess a small plot of land and a strong desire to buy a cow remains unfulfilled.

 

“And this was not just Hori’s condition. This was a disaster in the whole village. There isno person who does not cry.”

 

Premchand has used the metaphor Three Bigha Fort to describe Hori’s land that represents his identity, pride and existence throughout his life. Many critics like Meenakshi Mukherjee consider Godaan “as a saga of Indian rural life whose protagonist Hori is the archetypal Indian peasant in his meekness and humanity” and “Hori is the victim of social determinism.” Thus, the novel highlights many problems related to debt, untouchability, Varna system, zamindari system, and overall political system prevailing in the pre-independence Indian society. 

 

B.    Problems due to industrialization:

Due to industrialization, the capitalist or the industrialisthas become greedy and tries to exploit the labour class. They forces the youngsters tomigratefrom the villages to cities where they faces many conflicts and tensions. Hori’s only son Gobaralso migrates to the city and experiences the city life of Lucknow. In the beginning, he feels fortunate working in the city and serving as an employer since according to him the peasant works like a machine, leads a hopeless life, and faces oppression and suffering as a part of the destiny. However, in the city, he learns to be practical and worldly. His condition as a worker in the city is exact opposite of what he thought it to be because he has no permanent job and does different humble jobs. Soon he comes back to the village and enlightens the villagers. Heserves as a social leader and makes the villagers aware about the money-lending system, the corruption, and the caste system. He hates the village and prefers to be a poor obedient labourer in the town where he earns some money and lends it to the other at an excessive rate which unwittingly, makes him a part of the money-lending system which victimizes the peasants. Like Hori, Gobar too suffers as the result of his experience of the endless competition, mental and violent upheaval that is an integral part of the life of every worker.

 

Contemporary issues of farmers:

The situation of Indian peasantry has not been changed as greatly as ithad been expected after 73 years of independence. The path of the farmers iscovered with difficulties, majorly financial and natural and their plighthas only worsened over the years. Every year we come acrossfarmers’ pitiable condition which has become a catchy subject for both offline and online media. Their condition cannot be changed completely as they are brutallysuppressed by the economic and political system and to overcome the distressful situations, farmers arecommitting suicidesbecause they thinkthat it is better to end their lives rather struggle and fight against the system only to lose.The marginalization of farmers still continue, and their existential battle even today is the same.

 

P C Bodh, Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India, has recently published a book titled “Farmers Suicides in India : A Policy Malignancy” presenting his views about the root causes of farmer distress in the country.He has given a detailed and thoroughly researched account of the state of farming in the country. In the book, he raises doubt whether the policy of subsidies has providedany useful purpose to the farmers creating a better environment.He asserts that though the government has been spending lacs or crores of rupees year after year on providing different subsidies to the farmers which could be the actual solution to the plight of farmers then why are the farmers still sufferingand choosing to ruin their lives by commiting suicide.The book focuses on today’s plight of Indian farmers as worse off as the fictional characters in Premchand’sGodaan, an epic work on Indian farmer conditions in the 1930s. The novel represents the economic and social hindrance in Indian progress. It imitates the socio-cultural condition of rural India.There are the people like Hori who work in the field to produce a meal for their family whereas there are people who live a prosperous and luxury life by earning profit through money-lending system. But the foremost problems in the village remains the same that every farmer is sinking in debt, and it is not the only sole reason for farmers' suicides. Many other reasons that are considered as discussion on suicides are issues of crop failures, new farming tools and techniques, and the most importantly psychological aspect like depression, suicidal idea, negative cognitions, hopelessness and helplessness.

 

In his book, P C Bodh brings out an important consideration on the subject by outlining the reasons that lead farmers to commit suicide, and suggests solutions to weed out corruption from our system that will help to relieve some distress of the farmer. He analyzed and presented the rate of farmer’s suicide annually, between 1995 and 2015, was 15,306and he also predicted through his observation that 76,530 farmers could commit suicide between 2016 and 2020 at an average rate, considering the total of farmers' suicide to be 3.92 lakhs in 5 years.He suggests that it is time to take completely radical approach that is the need of the hour which will not onlyempower the farmers but it will help to mend the broken wings of farming in India.Further, Bodh says, “This national apathy towards millions of farmers who were just recovering from its hundreds-of-years-old wound and weakness sustained from colonial devastation...Indiamay win the rather dubious distinction of being the capitalof farmer suicide in the world: the land of farmers' suicides, making farmers' suicides almost an endemic in India”.

 

The discussion on the causesbehind the factors leading to farmers’ suicides in India is not enough and we need to brings light on the evident history of the development of farmers’ welfare policy, development in farming, adopting the budgetary support approach, production support approach and to reduce suicide statistics.

 

By the time, industrialization has been increased,the agricultural lands are quickly transformed into non-agricultural landsbecause people of the rural areas tends to migrate to the urban areas to earn better living and improve their lifestyle but there they face many challenges to get adequate employment and social protection. Efforts must be made to find some possible solutions to the issue of migration in order to develop therural-urban economic linkage, expand rural employment opportunities, especially among youth, empowersthe rural sector to improve theirlivelihoods and relieve them from distress caused frommigration.

 

The sustainable development in agricultural as well as rural areas can offer us many ways to confront the various causes of migration including poverty, hunger, inequality, unemployment which together form alink. Unless and until, the issues related to exploitation of the farmers through different approaches such as socially, economically and politically, are not entirely addressed, thenas a consequence the rural people will definitely prefer to migrate due to distress and not as a practical choice.

 

 

CONCLUSION:

MunshiPremchand has raised the voice for an oppressed community and gave it a writing form. He wrote on social issues, evoked our social consciences and reminded us of the responsibility towards the society.This effort of Premchand laid the foundation of the realistic tradition in the Indian novel.He picturizesthe realities of common man’s life and the various problems faced by him. His main focus in his work was on the rural India and its exploitation inthe hands of land lords and loan sharks. He brought realism in Hindi literature which was a revolutionary change in literature at that timemaking it a medium of radical change in man and society. It is not the reformist zeal but a serious concern for the downtrodden or the subalterns of the society of his days which makes Premchand a famous writer. No doubt, the problems of Premchand’s age remains constant in the contemporary society and it is not a hidden fact that in different parts of the country, suicides have been reported with stark regularity. But we need to wake up the system which seems to be in rest refusing to pay attention to the miseries ofthe farmer community since long andwe must remain focused on thetopical issues related to Indian farmers andto bail them outfrom the suicidal psychosis and migration.

 

REFERENCES:

1.          Bodh, P. C.Farmers’ Suicides in India: A Policy Malignancy. London: Routledge India, 2019. Print.

2.          Chanakaya. Review of Farmers’ Suicides in India: A Policy Malignancy by P.C. Bodh., Publisher: Routledge, London. Society and You. 17 Oct. 2019. Web. 23 Jan. 2020.http://societyandyou.co/review-of-farmers-suicides-in-india-a-policy-malignancy-by-p-c-bodh-publisher-routledge-london/

3.          Joy, Shemin. India may become farmer suicide capital: Agri Adviser. Deccan Herald. 3 Nov. 2019. Web. 23 Jan. 2020.www.deccanherald.com/amp/national/india-may-become-farmer-suicide-capital-agri-adviser-773068.html

4.          Mukherjee, Meenakshi.Realism and Reality: The Novel and Society in India. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1985. 148. Print.

5.          Pratap, Mahendra, and S.B. Singh. “Peasant’s Problem, Consciousness and Struggle in Premchand’s Novels.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 61, 2000, pp. 922-929. Web. 23 Jan. 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/44148167

6.          Premchand.Godan. New Delhi: Rajpal and Sons, 2005. Print.

7.          Premchand. Godaan:The Gift of Cow. Trans. Gordon C. Roadarmel. Permanent Black, 2012. Print.

8.           Rajapaksha, NilanthiKumari.“The Depiction of Village Life and their Problems in ‘Godan’ by Premchand and ‘Gamperaliya’ by a Sri Lankan Novelist Martin Wikramasingha.” International Journal of Research.Granthaalayah, 5.11.(2017). 46-49. Print. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1065968

 

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