Calcutta, 1928 As the student protests gather momentum all across Calcutta, and police atrocities grow, ten-year-old Bithi wants to join in the struggle for freedom. But living in a society where her best friend is to be married and just the fact that she is going to school is regarded with disapproval, how can Bithi play a substantial part? How can she fight those who are dearest to her? Discouraged but not daunted, Bithi schemes and plots and lies and is drawn into unexpected danger-all for the sake of fighting injustice in all its forms. The Songs of Freedom series explores the lives of children across India during the struggle for independence.

Sarchi, 1921 When Dak Chacha comes to visit, Luxmi feels only joy and excitement. But this time, there is something dark underfootChacha is worried and there are policemen coming to search their house. Luxmi learns that both Dak Chacha and her mother are involvedin their own small waysin the struggle for liberation from the unjust laws and practices that the British regime forces on all of them. This makes her determined to be part of it too. Even if that means undertaking a risky mission which no one else is able to do . . . The Songs of Freedom series explores the lives of children across India during the struggle for independence.

Mysore, 1932 The rest of India is ablaze with the fervour of the freedom movement, but Mysore remains tranquil under the maharaja's benevolent rule. For twelve-year-old Leela, the movement feels distant, just words in the pages of newspapers—until Malathi Akka moves into her neighbourhood, bringing with her thrilling ideas, new perspectives, and . . . a gramophone! As Leela gets swept up by the winds of change, it dawns on her that participation in the freedom struggle can take on forms she hasn't even imagined . . . The Songs of Freedom series explores the lives of children across India during the struggle for independence.

Ranchi district, 1915 Sibu's life is changing as the Oraons who live in the forests of Chota Nagpur, are slowly moving to the Tana Bhagat movement, where they begin to protest the injustices that the zamindars and the British Raj perpetrate on the Adivasis. And by stories of German Baba, who will help defeat the British in the Great War and bring freedom to the Oraons and to India. Yet, though the Tana Bhagats follow the path of non-violence, violence is rearing its head in the world around them . . . The Songs of Freedom series explores the lives of children across India during the struggle for independence.

Tanjore, 1942 There are few excitements in Thambi's quiet life. There is the new hotel, disapproved of by elders, which lures him with the aroma of sambar with onions. There are visits to the library to read the newspaper, and once in a while, a new movie at the Rajaram Electric Theatre. More disagreeably, there are fortnightly visits from his uncle to lay down the law. When Gandhiji announces the Quit India movement, Tanjore is torn apart by protests. The train station-the lifeline of the town-is vandalized. Mysterious leaflets are circulated, containing news that newspapers do not publish. And inspired by the idea of a free India and his own dreams of being an engineer, Thambi must find the courage to do what he believes is right-even when it endangers all he holds dear. The Songs of Freedom series explores the lives of children across India during the struggle for independence.

Aizawl, 1942 The world that the young boy at the heart of this story is growing up in is filled with magic and the simple joys of life with his brother Kima. Even the British presence in the Lushai Hills, so resented by some, does not affect him, except as a source of interesting and different things and people. But as the Japanese prepare to invade their land, Kima joins up with the British Indian Army, and the days of simple joy are over . . . The Songs of Freedom series explores the lives of children across India during the struggle for independence.

Madras, 1944 While World War II rages in Europe and the Japanese army draws closer to India, Raji and her sisters are sent off with their mother to stay in Manikoil, her mother's family village. But with her brother now a soldier in the British Indian Army and refugees fleeing from Malaya, Burma and other eastern countries back to India, Manikoil is no longer the peaceful haven it once was. And while there is hope of Independence in the air, Raji is uncertain whether it will come to pass-and what it will truly mean for her and her family. The Songs of Freedom series explores the lives of children across India during the struggle for independence.

Longlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature What happens when we attempt to exchange the life we are given for something better? Five people, in very different circumstances, from a domestic cook in Mumbai, to a vagrant and his dancing bear, and a girl who escapes terror in her home village for a new life in the city, find out the meanings of dislocation, and the desire for more. Set in contemporary India and moving between the reality of this world and the shadow of another, this novel delivers a devastating and haunting exploration of the unquenchable human urge to strive for a different life.

Contents: Introduction, The Nationalist Ideas Behind the Revolt of 1857, Nationalism Takes Root: The Moderates, The Indian Struggle for Independence 1885 to 1909, Politics of Indian Revolutionaries 1905-1910, Armed Struggle for the South-East, The Indian Self-Government as Advocated by Annie Besant, Quit India Movement, Tribals and Freedom Struggle, Muslim Nationalism and Freedom Struggle, Subhash Chandra Bose his Role in India s Freedom Struggle, The Last Phase of the Freedom Struggle the R.I.N. Mutiny.