Waiting for the Mahatma

Sriram’s evolution into manhood is, for him, a strange and bewildering process. Bharati, the girl he worships, is quick-witted, gifted and condescending to Sriram. Her first loyalty is to Mahatma Gandhi, a saint blessed with disconcerting common sense, whose tragedy is that he is so much greater than his followers.

This powerful story of a boy lured away from his grandmother and the town of Malgudi by the charms of a young and beautiful girl, to find himself in the midst of Gandhi’s most faithful disciples, is immediately arresting and capable of stirring the deepest emotions. It is a tale of remarkable insight into the upsurge of Indian nationalism as witnessed through the eyes and hearts of Sriram and Bharati, and told with all the genius and compassion we have come to expect from R. K. Narayan.

R. K. Narayan (1906 2001) was one of the most prominent Indian novelists of the twentieth century. Most of his stories are set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi, a place that Narayan populated with numerous characters. He was the recipient of many awards for his work including the National Prize of the Indian Literary Academy, India's highest literary honor. In 1980 he was awarded the AC Benson Medal by the Royal Society of Literature, of which he was an honorary member and in 1982 he was elected an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.