Waiting for the Mahatma

infobox Book |
name = Waiting for the Mahatma
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author = R. K. Narayan
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country = India
language = English
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genre = Novel
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release_date = 1955
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media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
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isbn = NA
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"Waiting for the Mahatma" is a 1955 novel by R. K. Narayan.

Plot introduction

Sriram is a high school graduate who lives with his grandmother in Malgudi, the fictional Southern Indian town in which much of Narayan's fiction takes place. Sriram is attracted to Bharati, a girl his age who is active in Mahatma Gandhi's Quit India movement, and he becomes an activist himself. He than gets involved with anti-British extremists, causing much grief to his grandmother. Sriram's underground activity takes place in the countryside, an area alien to him, and the misunderstandings with the locals provide the book's best comic moments. After spending some time in jail, Sriram is reunited with Bharati, and the story ends with their engagement amidst the tragedy of India's partition in 1947.

"Waiting for the Mahatma" is written in Narayan's gentle comic style. An unusual feature of this novel is the participation of Gandhi as a character. His revolutionary ideas and practices are contrasted with the views of traditionalists such as the town's notables and Sriram's grandmother. The political struggle serves as a background to Sriram and Bharati's unconventional romance which is concluded outside either's family circle. This is one of Narayan's most successful novels, where much happens behind the façade of the low key storytelling.