Sriram is twenty. Sriram's evolution into manhood is, for him, a strange and bewildering process. Bharati, the girl he worships, is witty, infuriating, capable and, wonder of wonders, condescending to the moonstruck Sriram.
It is a tale of remarkable insight into the upsurge of Indian Nationalism as witnessed through the eyes and hearts of Sriram and Bharati, and told with all the genius and compassion we have come to expect from R. K. Narayan.