'Gaban' by premchand

Gaban

              by Premchand; translated by Christopher R King

Gaban, the well-known novel of Premchand was first published in 1931 in both Hindi and Urdu languages, just five years before his death. This novel very beautifully shows the social and economic conditions and conflicts of a North Indian society in India before independence. It is the story of a woman Jalpa, who was deeply fond of jewelry. Her husband Ramanath in order to fulfill her desires gets trapped in a vicious circle of debts, lies and borrowing. Ramanath being morally weak was unable to face the consequences of his deeds and finally runs from his house to Calcutta leaving Jalpa alone in all sorts of troubles. Even in Calcutta he entangled himself in some serious problems. Finally it was Jalpa’s virtuousness and courageous nature which led to the recovery of Rama from such traps.

The story’s title “Gaban” means embezzlement. Initially the title seemed quite inappropriate to me because actually there was no embezzlement at all. It was the thought in Rama’s mind that he had took government’s money and was unable to return it. In reality Jalpa had returned the money to the municipal office by selling her own jewelry and there was no problem in which Rama was trapped in. But after reading the whole novel my views changed. It was Gaban's fear which compelled him to run from his house and later on to join the police in giving a completely false witness. Because of the fear of getting caught by the police he went on telling lies one after another. Even without actually being the story, embezzlement was the part around which the whole story revolves. So in my opinion the title Gaban is well justified. 

Unlike many other writers Premchand has a unique and appreciable quality. His novels do not contain any “hero” or “a flawless person”. He shows them as they are. Here was the same case with Rama. He was a guy who never hesitated to tell lies to fulfill his needs. It was this terrible habit of his which kept on multiplying from one to ten and then to thousand and so on, which ultimately led to his miseries and sufferings. Being always worried about the family’s honour, he was the reason for spoiling his family’s reputation.

In reality it is Jalpa who is the main protagonist. Even this would not seem correct when one enters the story. During the first half of the story Jalpa is shown as a good for nothing girl who is only fond of jewels. During the time of her marriage when she came to know the fact that she has not received any chandrahaar, she became very upset in spite of getting several other jewelries. For her there was only one thing which can give her pleasure and that is jewels. But in a due course of time there comes a change in her mind and heart. Her love for her husband starts growing. She understands that jewels are not everything in her life. She accepted the fact that she is not married in such a family where her husband can afford her such precious golden bracelets and other jewelry. Seeing the debts as the main cause of her husband’s distress she was ready to part with her jewelries. She was the one who saves Rama from being handcuffed by returning the government money by selling away her jewelries. Rama was her first priority and she was unable to bear the pain of staying away from Rama. There was also a display of her intelligence by the chess problem which she published to search for her beloved. She was courageous enough to move to Calcutta to rescue her husband. She is shown as a very compassionate woman who willingly goes to help Dinesh’s family in their fight for survival. It was the efforts of all these hardships faced by Jalpa which finally led to the redemption of Rama. So in every way she showed the mentality and qualities of a real hero.

This was my second novel which was written by Premchand, the first one being Godaan. In comparison with Godaan, Gaban relatively has a simple and interesting story. In contrast to so much involvement of characters in Godaan, Gaban’s story revolves mainly around only two characters Rama and Jalpa from starting till the end. But on comparing both the novels of Premchand we can surely praise his versatility. He can very well describe every class of Indian society-whether being rich or poor. Premchand writes on the realistic issues of those days - communalism, corruption, zamindari, debt, poverty etc. One more important point to notice in Premchand’s novels is that the role of her female protagonist is always a central and dominant one. Perhaps he always believed in the importance of their role in society. Premchand from this novel has also brought the idea of corruption prevailing in Indian society during the British rule. The entire police related scenes brought this idea into picture.

Concluding my review I would like to say that this novel Gaban surely counts among the best novels written by Premchand. Although I admit that this novel will give the Western readers some hard time with the use of a few difficult Hindi words, I think it should not be missed by the readers interested in regional Indian literature. The readers will praise Premchand’s work for sure.