Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman

The story of a girl who wants to go to college which takes place in India during WWII and the non-violent fight of India for independence from Britain.  The author grapples with a lot of issues:  non-violence vs. just war, women's rights, and education for all.

Great opening paragraph that sets the scene:

I still remember the day we celebrated Krishna Jayanthi, the festival of Lord Krishna's birth, at our home in Bombay.  The drive was drenched with the juice of fallen jamun fruit and the sand of Mahim beach gleamed like a golden plate in the afternoon sunlight.  Whispers of heat rose from the tar road and shivered toward the slumbering Arabian Sea.