It is 1944, and India’s struggle for freedom is at its peak. For years, Narasimha Murthy,  a young, unknown schoolteacher in a remote village in rural south India has been journaling about Mahatma Gandhi and the events of the struggle. Defying the wishes of his family, he embarks on an 800-mile journey to fulfill an impossible dream—to meet Gandhi face-to-face and talk to him.

At Gandhi’s Sevagram Ashram, Murthy works alongside Dalits, Muslims, and women, breaking every social boundary he has known. He scrubs latrines, chops vegetables, and witnesses Gandhi nurse a leprosy-afflicted patient— an act considered utterly taboo in Indian society then. He is both captivated and repelled by Gandhi’s love. Each day peels back another layer of Murthy’s beliefs, forcing him to confront the prejudices he has long carried within himself.

His three weeks at the ashram are over, and he has to leave. Murthy still has not had the moment he dreamed of with Gandhi.