'Decolonize your bookshelves, beauty standards, minds'

New Delhi, July 23 Anasuyabai Kale played an active role during the freedom movement for which she was jailed and refused to apologise in return for being released. One of Indias first women parliamentar, she was the inspiration for her great-granddaughter Supriya Kelkars debut novel "Ahimsa".

The author, who was born and brought up in the US Midwest, has now stepped back further into time with a book on the India of 1857 and the First War of Independence to challenge the "so-called classics, which romanticize colonialism instead of showing it as the brutal act it was".

"I hope it sheds a light on what was actually happening. I hope teachers and parents can use the book to further discussions on colonization and decolonizing in schools. And I hope it is eye-opening for adult readers as well," Kelkar told in an interview of "Strong as Fire, Fierce as Flame"