After decades of working in the printing industry in Kolkata in eastern India, Tarini has reached retirement age. He spends his days at home, having declined his son’s invitation to come to the United States. Then a friend shows him a help-wanted ad. Although he has never published a book, Tarini used to tell made-up stories to his friends in his youth, and the ad for a storyteller in Ahmedabad in western India piques his interest.
Four friends from Calcutta who have very different personalities make a holiday excursion into the country, to a tiny village in the state of Bihar where they set themselves up in a bungalow. A series of minor events, all connected to their respective reactions to their new environment, reveals their characters more deeply.
Shyamali, who is both hearing and speech impaired, faces several struggles in life. While the man she marries supports her, she is not accepted by her in-laws.
Raikamal narrates the story of Rai Kamal, a devotee of Lord Krishna. Rai Kamal and Ranjan are childhood sweethearts. When Ranjan grows up he wishes his desire to marry Rai but his parents are against this match as they are Brahmins and Rai Kamal was a low caste Vaishnav.