The story begins with the death of the parents of Mukesh, a teenager who has just graduated from senior high school. Mukesh is put into the care of an unfriendly aunt. He struggles to get along with his aunt's family who refuses to provide him with any money. As he struggles to study in the first year of his BA, he also worries for his two sisters who have been sent to live in a girls' home. Mukesh bonds with an undertaker named Johnny over their mutual love of chess. Johnny has a brother in Mauritius who has invited him to live there but Johnny has no money to get to Mauritius. He tells Mukesh of his dream to leave the country one day.