The story of two sisters in a poor rural family in India as their family struggles to come to terms with compromises that they have to make in order to survive. Their father's illness forces the eldest sister to go to the big city to work as a prostitute, allowing her to send money home so the rest of the family can live in relative ease. The return of that sister to the village to attend the younger sister's wedding results in a showdown in the family, bringing to the surface the struggles and double standards of the parents in their willingness to accept money from the elder sister but at the same time wanting her to go away so as not to "spoil" their name and remind them of their guilt in forcing her into her city life and the moral compromises that they have made.