Vidya’s aunt and her cousin Malati treat her with pure resentment and contempt, constantly reminding Vidya that her beloved father is now little more than an ‘idiot’ and no one will want to marry her because of that. And it is clear from the start that they are not welcomed. The family is forced to move to Madras, to live with her father’s more traditional family. Vidya’s father survives, but he is now severely brain damaged, a shell of his former self. Running after her, her father stops to help a woman who has been beaten by a British policeman who then brutally beats him too. They quickly get separated as she swept into the crowd. While riding in the car with her father, they are forced to stop when they encounter a Freedom Fighter demonstration and Vidya jumps out of the car to join them. Vidya seems to have everything until one rash act brings it all to an end. And she is exceedingly proud when she discovers that her father, a doctor, is using his medical skills helping the injured victims of Ghandi’s non-violent Freedom Fighters, as they demonstrate against British colonialism and for an independent India. Though she was born into India’s upper Brahman caste, her parents are very liberal she is able to attend a private girls’ school and she can dream about the possibility of going to college, a rare privilege for Indian women, who are expected to marry relatively young. It is 1941 and 15 year old Vidya is a lucky girl.
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