In a peaceful southern town, amidst lush spice plantations, trouble is brewing.
In the town live three generations of two families, one Hindu and the other
Muslim, whose lives will be changed forever by the coming violence. At risk are
Dada, the ageing grandfather who lovingly tends and talks to the plants on his
estate; his strong-willed grandchildren, Abu and Fareeda; the newly married
Devaki, who cannot fathom the forces that are turning her husband and her
father into fanatics; Mariam, of the gifted hands, who kneads and pounds the fatigued
muscles of tourists into submission; and Garuda, the high-school teacher who, in his own
desperate way, is trying to impart the truth about the country’s history to a classroom of
uninterested students. Quietly but surely, the spectre of religious intolerance is beginning
to haunt the community in the guise of the Self-Respect Forum whose mission is to divide
the town and destroy the delicate balance of respect and cooperation that has existed for
hundreds of years.