Sriram is attracted to Bharati, a girl of his age who is active in Mahatma Gandhi's Quit India movement,[2] and he becomes an activist himself.

Sriram's underground activity takes place in the countryside, an area alien to him, and the misunderstandings with the locals provide the book's best comic moments.

After spending some time in jail, Sriram is reunited with Bharati, and the story ends with their engagement amidst the tragedy of India's partition in 1947 and Gandhi's death in 1948.

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

[3] The political struggle serves as a background to Sriram and Bharati's unconventional romance which is concluded outside either's family circle.