Bade Bhai Saheb

This is a beautiful story. The beauty lies in the realistic description of the events that is taking place. This story is not a plot centric story. It is a literary kind of story. The end is really good. It also conveys a very important message, be what you are. The story also tries to express the inadequacies of the educational system. When th elder brother preaches hero the author is making sarcasm of the entire education system. The message is loud and clear. The message is the impracticality and uselessness of the education. At one point the elder brother says that the pricipal of his school, a Dlit. from Oxford was unable to make his ends meet till his illiterate mother joins him. The emperical realities of the daily life are different from the theoritical ideal types.

The elder brother of the hero of this story is not more than three years elder to him but acts like a big man. He preaches the hero for diligence. He tries to scare the hero that he will fail unless he studies day and night. The hero makes a routine not to follow. The event of routine preparation is vividly described. It appears that the reader himself is preparing routine. The fate of routine was similar to what most of us have in our lives. This is where Premchandji is a master, a genius. He is such a minute observer of human actions. He knows what is in the mind of his readers and what they do in their daily life.

The story moves on between the failure of the elder brother in spite of slogging day and night. The hero comes first without making much effort. The elder brother keeps studying all day out to end up in the same class for three times. The hero runs behind kite and yet comes first. However, the genealogical responsibility of the elder brother make him deliver preaching to the younger brother. The preaching is a medium through which the author attacks the educational system. Through the hero the author wants to depict that one should take studies with as much seriousness as much it is required. There is much more and important in life than becoming a bookworm. It will not take you very far, may be you will end up like the elder brother, someone who slogs to fail in the same class. It is not the failure of the elder brother it is the failure of the educational system. The one who makes merry comes out as a topper and the one who works hard fails. The author contends that that is more to life than formal education.

When the story starts the elder brother was four years senior to the hero but in the end he was only one class senior to his brother. In spite of all the failures the urge to preach does not dies. Yet in the end he makes use of his best potential, his height, in catching a kite. The hero follows him.