In a tiny concrete-and-tin Chennai home in the slums live two young brothers with their mother and grandmother. With the boys' father in prison for unknown reasons and with an ageing mother-in-law, the mother does her best to keep the kitchen fires burning. The brothers spend their time playing games and stealing and devouring eggs from crows' nests. Their love for these eggs leads them to start calling themselves Periya Kaaka Muttai ('Big Crow Egg') and "Chinna Kaaka Muttai" ('Small Crow Egg').