<EM>Ba slipped the gold bangles from my wrists. The gold ones were plain so I didn't mind taking them off, but I loved wearing my milk-glass bangles and the lakkh bracelets.&nbsp;&nbsp;<BR><BR>"A widow can't wear bangles,” she said. "They are signs of a woman's good fortune.&nbsp; When your husband dies it's over."<BR><BR>"What if my good fortune comes back?"<BR><BR>“It doesn't.”</EM></DIV><DIV><EM></EM>&nbsp;<BR>Pretty as a peacock, twelve-year-old Leela had been spoiled all her life.&nbsp; She doesn't care for school and barely marks the growing unrest between the British colonists and her own countrymen.&nbsp; Why should she? Her future has been planned since&nbsp;her&nbsp;engagement at two and marriage at nine.</DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>Leela's whole life changes, though, when her husband dies.&nbsp; She's now expected to behave like a proper widow:&nbsp;&nbsp;shaving her head and trading her jewel-toned saris for rough, earth-colored ones. Leela is&nbsp;considered unlucky now, and will have to stay confined to her house for a year--keep corner--in preparation for a life of mourning&nbsp;for a boy she barely knew.&nbsp;<BR><BR>When her schoolteacher hears of her fate, she offers Leela lessons at home. For the first time, despite her confinement, Leela opens her eyes to the changing world around her.&nbsp; India is suffering from a severe drought, and farmers are unable to pay taxes to the British. She learns about a new leader of the people, a man named Gandhi, who starts a political movement and practices <EM>satyagraha--</EM>non-violent protest against the colonists as well as the caste system.&nbsp;&nbsp;The&nbsp;quiet strength of<EM>satyagraha</EM>&nbsp;may liberate her country. Could she use the same&nbsp;path to liberate herself?&nbsp;&nbsp;<BR>