Book Summary – Waiting for the Mahatma by R.K. Narayan

Book Summary – Waiting for the Mahatma

by R.K. Narayan

Indian Thought Publications, Chennai

27^th Reprint 2012, 256 pp, Rs. 125/-

          This is not one of wait to see the emancipation of one’s lot, rather it is of how a selfish individual waits for the Mahatma’s clearance to get married to the girl of his choice.

         

          The protagonist, Sriram, is an insipid person who can be easily influenced by anyone.  He grows up under the loving care of his grandmother, after the early death of his parents.

          When he is twenty, his grandmother hands over the fat sum of money she had been saving in his name.  His irresponsibility  is known immediately, when he wants to withdraw a huge sum of Rs. 250/-, but his watchful grandma restricts it to a decent Rs. 50/-.

          Sriram then goes to the neighbourhood shop and gives a tenner to pay for coloured drinks and plantains worth four annas (25 np).  The shopkeeper, Kanni, makes a reference of some ancestral debt which is unknown to Sriram till then and sets off the remainder as the repayment towards Singaporean cheroots his grandpa ordered and smoked while he was alive.

          Sriram loiters in the market and purchases a piece of furniture because ‘the money in his pocket clamoured to be spent’.

          When he’s twenty-four, he comes across a pretty girl who seeks a donation.  It is love at first sight for him – he wants to know her age, caste, eligibility for marriage, etc (but not her name), and puts eight annas in her box (without even the rudimentary knowledge of the purpose of donation) and thereafter sets upon the task of getting the details.

          He finds out from a jaggery merchant that the girl collected money in connection with the visit of Mahatma Gandhi.  At the same time, Sriram regrets not pursuing college education, which would have taught him the polish of treating a girl well. 

          Sriram goes to the venue on the banks of the Sarayu and admires the air of importance with which the volunteers go about with their jobs.  He overhears a conversation whereby the official interpreter of the meeting, Municipal Chairman, Natesh, is pointed to as one who runs with the hares and hunts with the hounds.

          On the second day, Sriram manages a closer seat with an air of authority on him, but feels guilty about looking at women who, the Mahatma stated, were ‘mothers and sisters’.  He could not stare at the men, who were either shop-keepers or school teachers, and ‘a most uninteresting and boring collection of human faces’.  He was also afraid that Gandhiji may read his mind.

         

          He is unable to grasp the Mahatma on non-violence (his ‘confidence’ in his having understood ‘everything’ ever since he operated his bank account, bites the dust).  When the Mahatma speaks about untouchability, he remembers how his granny always kept the scavenger a good ten yards away by adopting a bullying tone and how he added fuel to the fire by taunting him; he also recollects that the scavenger went about with his work, unmoved.

          Sriram spots the girl who asked donation on the dais.  When he notices her wearing khaddar, he promptly changes his opinion of khaddar from being the apparel fit only for cranks to how lovely it can be.  He wonders whether the wearer brought beauty to the material or whether it was good by itself.  He admires her confidence in facing a crowd.  But, he starts wondering if his grandmother would approve of a dark girl, if she were so.  He recollects that grandma had already seen one girl who’s a yokel with her tight oily braid, gaudy village saree, et al.

          He tries to get closer to the girl when the Mahatma alights the platform, and promptly regrets his dressing up in a mull dhoti and not in a khadi dhoti.  He tails the Mahatma to his hut in the sweeper’s colony, and promptly recollects what a tough life they live.  The reader is appraised of the double standards which the Municipal Chairman applies, to host the Mahatma at his mansion, to no success.  But, that is not the end to the administration’s effort to impress the Mahatma.  His camping in the sweeper’s colony makes it spick and span, and free from all the garbage which is usually strewn all over.

          The reader is introduced to Gandhiji’s multi-tasking, but shortly afterwards, Sriram is told that he should leave.  Since it is the donation girl who says it, his exit leads to an introductory conversation between them.  He wants to be a volunteer, but realizes that there are a few requirements like truthfulness and discipline, to become one.  She is Bharati, often aggressive and stern in her behaviour; but, she tells him that she lost her father to the Non-Co-operation Movement in 1920, and her mother a little later, and that she was adopted by the local Sevak Sangh and actually christened by the Mahatma.  If only to keep her company, Sriram agrees to meet Gandhiji the following morning.

          Meanwhile, Granny is so alarmed at the thought of Sriram being in the camp of an individual who sought to make untouchables enter temples, and involve people in difficulties, that Sriram’s teacher, who appreciates the boy, gets a piece of her mind.

          The next morning, Sriram is introduced to Bapu and is given the privilege of accompanying the latter on his morning walk.  Sriram becomes more cautious in his replies, as he fears that the saintly Mahatma may actually see through his lies.

          Sriram is allowed to accompany the Mahatma’s tour of the villages provided Granny concurs. Since she is not in favour of the freedom movement and the Mahatma’s doctrine of Ahimsa, she comes across to Sriram as an ill-informed, ignorant and bigoted personality.  He knows he could not lie to the Mahatma that he had taken Granny’s blessings; at the same time, he wouldn’t be patient with her as she speaks condescendingly about the Mahatma.

          During his conversation with Granny, she tries to find out if he had eaten non-vegetarian food.  Sriram puts her thoughts to rest, extolling the Ahimsa doctrine of the Mahatma.  The talk then moves to Granny fasting every night (in deference to a social custom meant for widows), which goes unnoticed and the hue and cry about the Mahatma’s fasts.  She makes him have dinner; and Sriram realizes it’ll be his last, at home. Rather than expressly take Granny’s permission, he leaves behind a note of farewell and goes into Gandhiji’s camp.

          Sriram is happy with the respect he gets from the villagers, which he thinks is a function of being a Gandhian.  Sriram gets a new perspective of village life, which is drastically different from the hitherto-imagined one of green trees, step-tanks and temple spires and the like.  Sriram gets a shock when he notices an impoverished village just twenty miles from Malgudi but he adjusts himself to it, if only to be a team-mate of his beloved.

          When Gandhiji departs, his assistant Gorpad goes along, while Bharati, Sriram’s ‘Guru’ stays back.  One gets an idea of how people flocked to see the Mahatma and how unassuming and normal he was amid all this. 

          Following the Mahatma’s departure, Sriram shifts to a deserted shrine on the slopes of the Mempi hills.  He feels the Mahatma’s presence, in absentia.  He recollects his tryst with the spinning wheel, another failure of his.  He eventually learns to spin the wheel and gets appreciated by the Mahatma.

          After the imprisoned Mahatma gives the call of Quit India, Bharati assigns Sriram the task of spreading the message.  Sriram, whose nationalism was a means to attain Bharati, wonders why he should waste a lot of paint to write the letter, ‘Q’, which seemed to be a part of the British ploy to drain the country of its black paint.  During such activities, the reader gets to know of counters to Quit India – Quiet India, doubts over Indians’ capabilities of self-governance, etc. – which indirectly bring out Sriram’s dismal failure in conquering his own self. In addition, one learns of ‘fake’ nationalists who claim to have donated for Gandhiji’s cause and put his picture on a wall in their office, but actually indulge in deforestation and assistance to the British.  One also comes across a British planter who actually offers hospitality to Sriram and tells him politely yet firmly that he was as attached to India as the latter was and that he would not want to quit India.  One also gets to understand the general chaos and double standards of the people as well as Sriram's - although he does his duty as a worker of the national cause, he has an inner conflict about going back to his comfortable home on Kabir street. His adventures as a freedom activist of the Mahatma’s path give the reader occasions to laugh.  Meanwhile, he even tries to marry Bharati by force but she insists that she wouldn’t marry him without Bapu’s sanction.  Bapu feels it’s not yet time for them to get married, but advises them to surrender at the nearest police station.  Sriram takes it as turning down and feels dejected, whereas Bharati takes it as Bapu had written and plans for productively passing time in jail.  This time Sriram does not want to accompany her but asks her if she’d marry him at the end of it all, and with Gandhiji’s permission – she agrees to it.

          The susceptibility of Sriram to any kind of influence is demonstrated by his coming under at the tutelage of a pseudo-Gandhian, Jagadish by name, a terrorist who wears khadi and has a photo studio for the front end.  With a few words of appreciation, Jagadish makes him a willing slave, makes Sriram work hard to further his sinister intention, and even sets up a secret radio at the abandoned temple, which served as Sriram’s residence, to communicate with the Indian National Army.

          During the course of transcriptions of the radio messages, Sriram even gets to hear the voice of the legendary Subhas Chandra Bose, but the message gets disturbed.  Sriram is naïve enough not to understand Jagadish’s continuation of the message.  Jagadish even gets Sriram to derail a train by offering the bait of talking to Bharati – and Sriram agrees to it, only for the sake of Bharati, and becomes a ‘Wanted’ person for the police.  Now to meet Bharati he has to shave off his head and grow a dropping moustache like a Mongol.  While growing the moustache, he indulges in various seditious acts, which he begins to enjoy, if only as a source of relief from his lonely and isolated life.  Whenever he wonders if the Mahatma would ever approve of his activities, Jagadish uses the name of Bapu to divert the topic and put Sriram’s doubts to rest.

          When he actually goes to meet Bharati, she sends Sriram a message that subterfuge cannot be done, and that he should go and see his granny who’s said to be very ill.  Sriram goes to his home in the dead of the night, in disguise, but his voice betrays him and the neighbourhood shopkeeper recognizes him.  From him, Sriram learns that Granny had passed away the previous night, and that she was not her usual self  ever since she learnt that her grandson had abandoned home to get after a girl, and that he was also a Zigomar.  The shopkeeper, Kanni, gives him food (on credit) but, however, does not betray him for the award on Sriram’s head.  Since Sriram cannot lead Granny’s funeral procession, he seeks Kanni’s help, with the freedom to spend as much as needed.  Kanni’s due diligence and commitment to the family is contrasted with the family priest’s greed.  After certain rituals are followed, and certain others, rejected by Sriram, the funeral pyre is lit, and then Granny moves her toe!  Before she is burnt alive, the fire is doused (despite the priest’s disapproval!) and she is nursed well till the doctor arrives and treats her and, advises that she be taken back home.  The priest considers this as inauspicious, and his objection is sustained this time.  So she’s taken to an abandoned old building, between the river and the town.  She recovers, people pour in at this miracle, and the police come looking in a couple of days.  Granny advises him to keep away from who make him tread the wrong path.  He goes away along with the police after putting her to sleep and entrusting her to the care of Kanni.

          Sriram quickly adjusts to jail life.  Since he is detained under the Defense of India Rules, he can be retained for as long as the police wanted.  His efforts to get a little more privacy for the prisoners is scoffed at by the prison authorities, who let him off with a warning.  Since he did not surrender himself along with Bharati, he wasn’t a political prisoner; he spent his days with several prisoners undergoing varying terms of rigorous imprisonment.  They are known by the offenses they have been convicted of, and Sriram realizes that they had humanity in them in that they wondered why he derailed a train at the instance of one individual, especially when he had got no profit out of it!  He looked forward to stone breaking sessions because they took him out of the jail, even if under surveillance.  Conversations between prisoners centred around what brought them there, future plans, philosophical discourse, bullying, et al, which kept him away from gloom.  He would be in the company of loneliness after all his cell-mates fell asleep.  He would wonder if Bharati got married to her compatriot (who, incidentally used to address her as ‘sister’), or if she’d direct the shooting party if he were caught  making his escape.

          One day, Sriram gets a visitor who brings him the news that Granny had since shifted to Benaras, that she requires money, and he had come to seek Sriram’s permission to send the amount of accumulated money of rent on the house to her.  It is news to Sriram that the house had been let out (with due precaution on vacation) to a yarn merchant, and that his belongings had been kept safe in the end room.

          Sriram dreams of escaping from the cell and getting Bapuji’s nod for helping all prisoners escape.  In this connection, he seeks the help of the bully of the jail who is philosophical enough to advise him against it; the bully even suggests that Sriram marry a ‘good girl’ and not the ‘jail-bird’!  This makes Sriram get annoyed and give up the idea.

          With the news of Indian’s impending independence reaching the jail inmates, there is hope of release, but the doubt is whether non-political prisoners will be released.  Despite the jail chief’s suggestion to represent his case for classification as political prisoner, he thinks that Bharati may not approve of it and is on his own till his turn comes for release.

          Sriram has some requests from his cell-mates which are more of the wishful thinking variety, but actually spends half of his jail earnings on the tips to the warders, who tailed him on that count.

          While ordering for ‘good’ food at his favourite eatery, Sri Krishna Vilas, Sriram gets to know of the now-prevalent evils of hoarding, adulteration, etc., which come as a rude shock to him since he expects independent India to be better than British India.  Sriram goes to Jagadish who is now a photographer, who showcases an album of India’s struggle for Independence- an album which includes their hideout in the abandoned temple – and rues fact that his chronicling does not win him a post of power.  Sriram feels sad that all the service he had done only helped a photographer to showcase his talent.  He then realizes that the inspiring underground worker was no more than an ego-centric fellow!  But his visit serves the purpose in that Sriram learns that Bharati was amongst the earliest political prisoners to be released, and that she had left for Noakhali in East Bengal, where communal riots were on.  Jagadish suggests Sriram write to her but ends up writing it himself.  Pat comes the reply that Sriram can meet her after January 14^th.  During his journey, Sriram realizes his not knowing Hindi prevented him from socializing, though jail-life taught him to be his own companion.  He has a close shave with fanatics, who let him go only because he and they share the religion.  On top of all that, the train is crowded to the fullest, and he cannot get his favourite coffee.  Anyway, on reaching Delhi, he finds Bharati waiting for him – he’s worried about his appearance whereas Bharati is affectionate.  She arranges to get his clothes washed (he expects that she does it for him as a wife would have done). She cares for a lot of homeless refugee children, and tells him that the Mahatma had not been able to spare a thought about their marriage since he is pained by the suffering of the women during Partition.  She gives a detailed account of the Mahatma’s work during Partition, of how he gave solace to the sufferers and changed the perpetrators forever, and of his according supremacy of humanity over religion.  She adds that Bapu and his team were under threat, and that she had decided to take her life rather than give up her honour, if it came to that.  She tells him that she was given the special charge of children, who have been given names of birds and flowers, and that Bapu once said that even a number would be better than a name, if a name meant branding a man on the basis of religion.  She recollects the reasons why the conversation about their marriage did not proceed on two previous occasions.

          An appointment is taken for the next afternoon, and Sriram is worried about his answers to Bapu’s possible questions, but Bharati tells him that he can say anything, as long as it is the truth.  Now Sriram dreams about the arrangements to make in case of a ‘yes’.  When they observe the busy Mahatma from a distance, Sriram wants to back off, but Bharati insists that Gandhiji wanted them to meet him that day.  When the meeting finally takes place, Sriram confesses to Bapu that he had actually indulged in violence.  The Mahatma talks about the purificatory effects of fasting and Bharati offers to do it on Sriram’s behalf.  It is time for the evening prayer, and finally Sriram requests Bapu’s permission to marry Bharati.  Gandhiji blesses them and suggests the next day as the date of the wedding, offers to officiate and also give the bride away.  As he moves towards the prayer venue, he turns round and expresses a premonition that he may not attend the wedding and stresses that it should go on despite his possible absence and Bharati agrees to it.

          Only on turning the page of the book does the reader realize that this was the prayer meeting where the Mahatma was assassinated.

          Through the life of an easy- going Sriram, R.K. Narayan offers a peek into the spirit of nationalism, the champion of nationalism, true and superficial followers of Bapu and the pangs of Partition, all within two hundred and fifty six pages!

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