A Matter of Small Matters

India in 1939 was not a free state. Under British rule, young Indian men feared they would be forced to fight in the recently declared war on Germany. Shastri is one of these young men. Already incarcerated by the age of fifteen, however, Shastri turns down political opportunities in order to suffer with his people as a freedom fighter-and suffer he did. It is several years before India is declared a free state, in 1947. By then, Vedanta is born. Vedanta forms a friendship with the wise and learned Shastri, and soon Vedanta becomes Shastri's adopted son, accepting instruction from this respected elder. Together, they must navigate a newly free India, where the rules have changed and politics are as complicated as ever. Over a forty-year span, the life of Shastri pours into that of Vedanta. Through love of God and of women, both men seek peace and enlightenment. Although theirs is a story of India, the struggles of elder Shastri and young Vedanta are universal. They too seek to find the meaning of life, the strength to face challenges, and the power to trust, in spite of impossible odds.