by Kay Marshall Strom
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.