Rakeshwar Bora, a simple Assamese farmer, faces ruin when a greedy landlord deceitfully claims his ancestral land by demanding a mortgage receipt that was never provided. To afford the steep bribes required by a corrupt legal system, Bora is forced to sell his livestock and send his young son to work as a servant for the same landlord. His ultimate humiliation occurs when financial desperation forces him to hang political banners praising the very man who destroyed his livelihood.

The story is set in 1962, the time of Sino-India war. It revolves around a widowed teacher named Ritu who is transferred to Koronga, a small Assamese village. The school here was destroyed by fire ten years earlier. Ritu takes on the challenge of rebuilding the school and starts campaigning among the villagers.