During the World War II period, the relationship between the Hindu and Muslim communities was very badly shattered. The repercussion of this torn relationship was seen after independence. Gandhi was a strong advocate Hindu-Muslim unity. He had always worked to strengthen the bond between the two communities from the very first day of his political activities in India. In his all freedom movements he had given core importance to the Hindu-Muslim unity either it is Civil Disobedience or The Salt March or The Quit India Movement. Along with the Hindu-Muslim unity Gandhi also worked very hard for the removal of social inequalities and abuses like untouchability, caste arrogance, occupational prejudices, the reform of education and giving new life to language and literature.
Gandhian philosophy influenced the literary scene of the Gandhian era. Majority of the writers of this era had talked about Gandhi and his political and social philosophy in their writings. It has been very well presented in novels like Bhabani Bhattacharya’s So Many Hungers, R.K.Narayan’s Waiting for the Mahatma and Kamala Markandya’s Some Inner Fury.
Belinsky wrote, “The secret of a people’s nationality lies not in its clothing or cuisine but in its, so to say, manner of understanding things. To correctly portray a society, one must first comprehend its essence, its peculiarity – and the only way that can be achieved is, by actually learning and philosophically assessing the sum total of rules governing and upholding that society.”(Belinsky, 1955, p.443) R. K. Narayan merges himself with the people and surroundings as a novelist. He has mastered the craft of representing his people, their values and ethos. Therefore Gandhi is a very vital figure for R. K. Narayan. He presents Gandhian ideology quite subtly and propagates different Gandhian social and political agendas in the Southern part of India. Some critics who eulogize Narayan argue that any work of art is considered to be the product of the historical, political, social and economical movements of its time. So, they have explored the presentation of national tradition in the works of R. K. Narayan.
Waiting for the Mahatma reverberates with Gandhian philosophy and ideology of nationalism of the 1950's. It is the quality of being able to penetrate into the essence of things that R. K. Narayan fully possesses, and can hence express in his works the innermost depth and pulse of his native society’s life. The throbbing of the country’s political pulse can be one of the signs revealing the innermost life of India and the first half of twentieth century of Indian history is majorly dominated by Gandhi. Gandhian philosophy moulded thought processes of the majority of the Indian writers thus the twentieth century Indian novelists were seriously involved to present the destiny of the country. The Indian independence movement is a political struggle and also an emotional experience for the people of India especially after the arrival of Gandhi on the political scene. No Indian writer, writing in those decades or writing about them, could avoid reflecting the upsurge in his work.
Thus, many of the English novels written in India in the twentieth century also deal with this national experience, either directly or indirectly as significant public background to personal narrative. This was an experience that was national in nature. It traversed the boundaries of language and community and since Indo-Anglian novels aim at a pan-Indian readership; this unifying experience has served to establish Indo-Anglian writing as an integrated part of Indian literature. A great national experience generally serves as a grand reservoir of literary material which can assume significance beyond mere historical reality.
The Gandhian ideology may have been the prime mover but along with it there were leftist, the terrorist, and the revolutionary parties working towards the same end through different means. The Gandhian way itself has different implications for different people. For some, it was a philosophy of life; for others, a convenient strategy in achieving freedom. Some people turned Gandhi into a saint and his teachings into quasi-religious dogma. Gandhi was an accepted pan-Indian political figure even his political rivals also agreed with him as far as his political strategies to achieve freedom. Any novelist dealing with these turbulent years had to impose an order upon the splendid chaos and thus discern a pattern in it to illuminate the human situation and R. K. Narayan has described the decade of 1940s marvelously in the Waiting for the Mahatma.
R.K. Narayan’s novel Waiting for the Mahatma was published in 1955. The novel presents a dialectical relationship between physical love and idealist, Gandhian ideology. This relationship is explored in the characters of Sriram and Bharati. Waiting for the Mahatma is perhaps the most ambitions of Narayan’s novels as far as the canvas is concerned. The novel does not fit in the mainstream of Narayan’s fiction. It is his only attempt at writing a novel with a national backdrop. The novel, though Gandhian in theme, has its two main characters Sriram and Bharati, a young pair of lovers. Against the vast background of the national struggle for freedom, with the Mahatma occupying centre stage, the love story of Bharati and Sriram provides moments of tenderness, romance, disappointment, anguish and finally consummation.
Waiting for the Mahatma also portrays the hectic activities of the Indian Freedom Movement. It is India of the 40’s that the novelist seeks to present. The events, preceding the Quit India movement and the movement’s powerful impact leading to India’s independence, have been presented by the author. The events like the atrocities of the police on the innocent Satyagrahies, the Jail Bharo movements, the growing love of the Swadeshi goods in the form of bonfire of foreign goods, people’s generous donation for the welfare of Harijans, Subhash Boss’ message and his clarion call to join I.N.A. shake the average Indian’s consciousness. The events stir the inner chords of all patriotic Indians.
Two major themes run across the novel – first is the relationship of Sriram–Bharati and the second is the freedom movement which develops under the leadership of Gandhi. Narayan’s obvious intention in Waiting for the Mahatma is to show the nature and extent of Gandhi’s impact on the average Indian. Sriram’s character provides Narayan an apt means for the illustration of the whole process of this impact.
One can easily see a vital change in the personality of Sriram from the beginning to the end. In the beginning we find that Sriram is a lazy man without any goal for his life. But his wish to marry Bharati brings a radical change in him. At first it is not Gandhi but a pretty girl who attracts Sriram toward a net set of values, and to the end Bharati remains the goal towards which Sriram’s life moves. There is no mistaking the fact that at the root of Sriram’s nationalistic zeal there is no ideological conviction but an infatuation with a girl who believes in Gandhi’s way. Yet slowly Sriram too comes under the spell of Gandhi and begins to identify himself with the cause without really knowing its full implications. He not only becomes a responsible man but also a socially and politically aware and responsible Indian nationalist. He follows Gandhian philosophy not thoroughly but tries to follow whatever he can to appease Gandhi.
As Bharati is nurtured in Harijan Sevak Sangh she follows Gandhian ideology quite well. Thus she is more active both socially and politically than Sriram. Sriram who is new to this kind of world muddles everything as his only goal is to marry Bharati. When Bharati goes away from Malgudi along with Gandhi he is not able to follow Gandhian ideology. He holds the finger of Jagdish who leads him to follow violent tactics to achieve freedom for the nation. He has been jailed for his anti-government activities. Thus, a directionless youth of the beginning of the novel once again behaves in the same way.
The way Sriram changes his mind for the freedom movement highlights that he hasn’t understood Gandhi at all and his shallowness leads him to become a revolutionary rather than a freedom fighter. Gandhi was quite sure that violent revolutionary activity will never bring peace along with independence. Therefore he has always favoured non-violent ways to achieve freedom to assure peace for the nation. Revolutionary activities can make someone very famous in a short period of time but S/he can’t become a political hero for the generation and thus the followers of violence will be cut off from the society. Sriram understands his mistakes during his stay in the jail and decides to follow Gandhian ideology.
The concluding part of the novel opens with India a free nation and Sri ram a free man after his release from prison. Sriram visited his photographer friend Jagdish. He is all eager to know about Bharati. He is informed that she was far away in Naukkali during the turbulent period of inter-communal fights. Sriram’s pent up emotions come out in the pathetic utterances before Jagdish as; “Probably she has no thought of me. Perhaps she has forgotten me completely!’… Sriram began to say something in reply but could not find the words, spluttered, remained silent and began to sob” (Narayan, Waiting for Mahatma 157). Jagdish writes a letter to Bharati on his behalf.
Bharati accepts Sriram’s proposal and tells him to come to Delhi to meet Gandhi. He goes to Delhi and meets Bharati. At their meeting, the marriage proposal is renewed by Sriram. Bharati, who has the dedication and determination of steel, as usual reiterates her inability to marry without permission and blessings of Gandhi. Both of them meet Gandhi and discuss their plan to marry. Gandhi gives his consent happily. So the novel concludes with a possibility of their marriage.
Here, it needs to be emphasized that as an accomplished artist, Narayan need not debate the pros and cons of Gandhian ideology in an obvious manner. The influence of Gandhian thought is incorporated in the vision of life that Narayan’s novel presents. His novel upholds traditional Indian values, but these are not the values of ancient Indian tradition, but values reoriented by Gandhian thought. Narayan has also highlighted Gandhi’s emphasis for Khadi as Khadi is a very important aspect of Gandhian philosophy. His preference for “Khadi” was actually a plea for India’s village industries because; he thought they would avoid the exploitation and misery inherent in large scale factory production. Gandhi is seen spinning at various points. There are various references to “spinning wheel” in the novel:
The Mahatma said, “Nowadays I generally get up an hour earlier in order to be able to do this: spinning a certain length is my most important work: even my prayer comes only after that. I’d very much like you to take a vow to wear only cloth made out of your own hands each day.” (Narayan, 2008, p.67)
Sriram derives his inspiration more from Gandhi than Bharati. Even when Gandhi is not present in Malgudi, Sriram feels that his “movements were being guided”. Living almost a hermit’s life, he receives communication from Gandhi through Bharati. This time, it is the “Quit India call of 1942”. The narrator’s direct comment on the efficacy of the “Quit India” movement reflects Narayan's own attitude towards Gandhian methodologies of political action. Thus, a detailed description of Khadi and The Quit India Movement in the novel shows Narayan’s silent affiliation to Gandhian philosophy.
Sriram’s participation in the terrorist activities that lands him in jail, convinces him of the rightness of the Gandhian path. This also gives Narayan a reason to present two different ideological points of view- Gandhian and Marxist-representing non-violence and violence respectively. It is significant that they are chastened by the jail experiences. Sriram finally submits himself to Gandhian philosophy.
Waiting for the Mahatma bears a clear imprint of the Gandhian influence, which has revolutionized the very social structure of our otherwise fossilized social life. Gandhi’s psychological, rather than physical presence in the novel lends a mythical aura. Though Gandhi appears only twice in the novel, it is the power of Gandhian philosophy which drives the narration and clutches the reader from the very first page to the end. To conclude I must say Narayan – the master craftsman – intertwines the love story of Sriram and Bharati and idea of nationalism with the help of Gandhian philosophy very well.
References:
Dr. Atulkumar Parmar, Asst. Professor in English, Mahadev Desai Gramseva Mahavidyalaya, Gujarat Vidyapith, Sadra, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Email: atulparmar1977@gmail.com