WAITING FOR THE MAHATMA REVIEW BY SREYA.M CLASS 10 A

 WAITING FOR THE MAHATMA 

BY: R.K.NARAYAN 

During this vacation, I read the book Waiting for the Mahatma by R.K.Narayan. This book tells the story of Sriram, a young man in the fictional Indian town of Malgudi. The story goes like this - Sriram becomes first a follower of Gandhi. Then later he becomes a private soldier in the fight for India’s independence between the late 1930s and the day that Mohandas Gandhi was assassinated in 1948. 

The story begins with the twentieth bday of Sriram. Sriram is still living with his grandmother, whom he calls Granny. Then the story starts after four years. Sriram hears that Gandhi has come to visit Malgudi and goes to hear him speak. There, he meets an attractive young woman named Bharati. Bharati is a follower of Gandhi. He goes with her to meet Gandhi, who tells Sriram that he must drive out all the hate from his heart before he can think of driving out the British. 

In Part Two, Sriram has become an official member of Gandhi’s group. In 1942, Gandhi was thrown in jail for giving a speech calling on Britain to, as the famous remark goes, “Quit India.” From Gandhi, Sriram and Bharati receive instructions that they are to paint the words, “Quit India,” on every possible surface across all the villages around Malgudi. Part Two ends with Bharati deciding to join Gandhi in jail and Sriram refusing to do so. 

In Part Three, Sriram falls in with Jagadish, a photographer who is also a follower of Gandhi. Although Sriram worries what Gandhi would think of their schemes, some of which end in the accidental deaths of others, Sriram goes along with the plan in hopes of seeing Bharati again. At the end of the novel, he goes to see his grandmother and is arrested from there. 

Part Four takes place in the prison where Sriram, who has not been classified as a political prisoner, is being kept. He dislikes prison life, which he finds oppressive and

humiliating. At the end of Part Four, news spreads that India is independent and that Gandhi is independent India’s Emperor. Later Sriram was released. 

In Part Five, Sriram goes to find Bharati. They meet up in New Delhi. The violence between Hindus and Muslims were a great concern to Gandhi and his followers. Later they talk about their marriage and Gandhi eventually agreed to their marriage. The wedding was fixed the next morning. But that day Gandhi was shot at the prayer and was dead in a few seconds. 

The story teaches us Gandhian values and the processes of Indian independence. Thank you