Mahatma Gandhi strongly believed in satya (Truth), ahimsa(non-violence). satyagrah(non-violent resistance) and purity of soul. Hisideologies have an immense effect on the whole world. While his ideologiesaromatized the air of pre and post independent India, all spheres of fieldsdanced under his magic spell. Indian English Literature isn't left untouched byhis presence in one or the other form. Some writers portrayed him as acharacter while others portrayed their characters as Gandhiji. The novelists ofpre-independent India tried to create literature depicting the Gandhianmovement of the thirties and forties. This is clearly reflected in the works ofRaja Rao, Bhabani Bhattacharya, K.S.Venkataramani, Mulk Raj Anand, R.K.Narayanand many more.

Bhabani Bhattacharya grew up in an age when the nation wasstruggling for its independence and human rights. Bhattacharya, in his fiction,assigned the highest place to human values. Being an advocate of Gandhianprinciples of truth and non-violence, Bhattacharya created a fictional world inwhich Gandhian principles were put to severe tests. His novel 'So ManyHungers!" was published in October, 1947; two months after India got itslong awaited freedom from foreign rule. The novel was set against the backdropof the Bengal Famine of 1943 and the Quit India Movement of 1942