India: 1946. For forty-eight years, Ashish and his
family toiled as slaves in the fields of the high-caste Lal family, and
all because of one small debt. At fifty-four, Ashish was old and worn
out. Every day was a struggle to survive for his family including his
only daughter.
His wife had named the girl
Shridula—Blessings. “Perhaps the name will bring you more fortune than
it brought me,” Ashish told his daughter. His words proved to be
prophetic in ways he could never have imagined. And when the flames of
revolt brought independence to India, they seared change into the family
of Ashish.