Godaan

Godaan (Hindi: गोदान, Urdu: گودان, romanized: gōdān, lit. 'cow donation') is a Hindi novel by Munshi Premchand. It was the last completed novel by Premchand. It was first published in 1936 and is considered one of the greatest novels of modern Indian literature and literary experts consider it world-class rivaling to clasical literature of west. Themed around the socio-economic deprivation as well as the exploitation of the village poor, the novel was the last complete novel of Premchand. It follows the story of an old poor farmer, stuck in a debt trap, who wants to purchase a cow, but is unable to do so for lack of money. It was translated into English in 1957 by Jai Ratan and Purushottama Lal as The Gift of a Cow. A 1968 translation by Gordon C. Roadarmel is now considered "a classic in itself". Godaan was made into a Hindi film in 1963, starring Raaj Kumar, Kamini Kaushal, Mehmood and Shashikala. In 2004, Godaan was part of the 27-episode TV series, Tehreer.... Munshi Premchand Ki, [The Writings of Munshi Premchand] based on the writing of Premchand, starring Pankaj Kapur and Surekha Sikri, directed by Gulzar and produced by Doordarshan.