The Salt Inspector and Other Stories

This is the second offering in the “Stories by Premchand” series is a collection of four stories. The stories present a realistic depiction of early twentieth century Indian life. The stories, though old, are still relevant as the issues depicted therein i.e. honesty versus dishonesty, justice versus injustice, moral struggle, fall and redemption and oppression are eternal themes in the social life.
The first story “The Salt Inspector”(नमक का दरोगा) is about an Inspector of Salt, who enforces government monopoly with utmost sincerity. For his honesty, he spurns offers of fabulous wealth and even suffers suspension from service. The second story
“The Death Shroud”(कफ़न) depicts a wretched father-son duo. The oppression of peasants and workers and the disillusionment tht breeds is the theme of the story. It provides a kind of perverse humour to see both of them using the money intended for buying shroud to buy liquor and snacks. The third story “Panch Parmeshwar”(पञ्च परमेश्वर) explores the theme of ‘Justice’ through the instrument of Panchayat system in India. Two friends learn that for the sake of true justice, it is important to be impartial. The sanctity that traditional democratic institutions of self government possessed in pre-independence India is aptly depicted in this story. The fourth one “Divine Justice” (ईश्वरीय न्याय) is a story about an honest manager, who after his master’s death tries to appropriate a part of his estate. His struggle with his conscience and redemption has been masterfully depicted in the story. To read a sample of this book, please click on the cover on this page; you shall be directed to amazon.com where you can read the sample.