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. This note of ambivalence towards the freedom movement may be due to Narayan’s need to reassure his mainly British audience. 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.