PREMCHAND 49 Purana Zamana" he wrote that "the capitalist class wanted monopoly over the river of honey and milk and would not like to give a drop of it to anybody else. It would lead a luxurious life, though the world may starve/911 In a conversation with the Marathi writer, Tikekar, Premchand declared: "I am a communist, but my communism is limited only to the extent that the ^amindars, seths and others, the exploiters of the peasants, should cease to exist."12 Soviet Influence After the first world war, Premchand's eyes turned to the great changes taking place in the world as a whole. After 1930 a marked ideological change became discernible in Premchand. In his article, "Mahajani Sabhyata" (Bourgeois Culture) he remarked: "The sun of the new culture is rising from the remote corner of the west (Soviet Union) which has uprooted this capitalism. No doubt, this new culture has broken the paws, nails and teeth of individualism. Now, in that state, a capitalist cannot flourish at the cost of others by exploitation. Many many thanks to that cul* turc which is undermining private property, The rest of the world will follow it sooner or later."128 Premchand not only opposed capitalism but saw the Soviet social order as only way of discarding capitalism. In his novel Godan he argues: "Nobody has a right to fatten upon the labour of others. Such a social order in which a small part of society leads a comfortable life, whereas large one writhes under the fell clutch of hardships, has no right to exist."34 Unlike Gandhi who believed in class cooperation, Premchand desired the liberation of peasants and workers through their own organized movements. In his novel Premashram, Premchand depicts the story of peasants' organized struggle against the ^amindars, even though they face the defeat in the^ long run. Balraj, a character in the novel, speaks out the mind of Premchand: "In Russia tenants have their own regime. They do what they want. Some bulgari country (Bulgaria) is also in its vicinity. Recently tenants dethroned the King and now there is the regime of peasants and workers.'515 This was a reference to the short lived regime of the peasants' party in Bulgaria. He also expressed his bitterness towards the feudal system: ^There is an overall change on all sides, so much so that peasants and workers can have their dominion, but they still sleep. Nobody knows when this system would be abolished.5516 In his last novel, Godan, he wanted to convey the message that peasants were