Just finished the book "Waiting for the Mahatma" by R.K. Narayan. I feel like chuckling at the thought of what my expectations and ideas about the book were when I picked it up. I expected it to be something highly philosophical and revolving around the Mahatma's ideals and virtues. Not that it isn't somewhat though. I assumed it would be about how the protagonist lets the Mahatma lead him...and turn around his life from something meaningless to something 'deep' and 'intense'. Overall, I was under the impression that it would be a serious story.
But....I must say that it turned out to be a cute book rather than something on the lines of what I expected! :-) Really cute! (I haven't probably called a book 'cute' before this! LoL.) It made me smile and chuckle now and then. The book transports the reader to the famous town of Malgudi with so much ease...in typical RK.N style! There are a few places in the story where the reader is likely to get confused about the author's view of India's struggle for freedom. But I guess the reader shouldn't attempt to read between the lines....it is a wonderful read if one just reads the story for what it is - a naive man's life and love, with the Indian Freedom struggle as the backdrop - and suspends all judgment and opinions. But I think the ending was really touching. I got so involved in it that I forgot to close the book for a while and simply sat staring and gurgling at the last page.
6 comments:
Hey there! you have inspired me to read '... Mahatma', again - read it so long ago, now I want to see if after all this time, I can still refrain from reading between the lines :)
This is a nice take on the book. I have read an excerpt of the book and would like to read the whole work. I used to blog on o3 Indiatimes before and am new to this blog. I also write (or try to) book reviews.
Since I am new to Google blog, I will do a very selfish thing here and leave my blog URL
Yes, we need "Mahatma"
Hey Tejaswai...me just back after a rainy adventure in Chennai..! In a bad mood because of what's been happening in Mumbai. Sigh.
Hmm...you nailed it. Difficult to refrain from reading between the lines. RKN seems to be saying something other than what is in black and white though!! :-)
Indrasish: Thanks for the comment! Do read the book...it is fun!
HOBO: You probably never said a truer word. Wonder how he would have handled the present crisis.
Just wanted to send in a quick update- India's First book on corporate blogging written by top CEO blogger Rajeev Karwal and social media researcher Preeti Chaturvedi titled "Corporate Blogging in India" was launched at the Oxford Bookstore in Delhi on the 10th of Dec. A hardback version of the book, priced at Rs 345 is available at all leading bookstores. We have created a blog for the same at Corporate Blogging in India. If you don't find a copy at some bookstore, please order the same through our website www.wisdomtreeindia.com
Dude, check this out.. http://mginger2009.blogspot.com
Post a Comment