Munshi Premchand—the unparalleled chronicler of Indian rural life and the myriad facets of the collective psyche—ranks among the world's most renowned literary figures. These representative stories of his have, by and large, become an integral part of the global literary consciousness. Selected by the celebrated progressive fiction writer Bhisham Sahni, these stories address various issues concerning Indian society and its inherent nature—issues which, despite the advent of 'Independence,' have today assumed even more formidable proportions. Indeed, as Bhisham-ji observes in the anthology's introduction, fifty years after Premchand's passing, his literature stands before us today as a solemn warning. Of the various social inequities against which Premchand contended in his writings, only British rule is no longer present amongst us; all the others persist, in one form or another, just as they were before! Fundamentally, the new era that Premchand ushered into our literature—the manner in which he brought literature closer to life, or conversely, placed life at the very center of literature—remains profoundly relevant to us even today.