Mukta is the grand-daughter of Abasaheb Kanase-Patil, a veteran of Maharashtra 's co-operative movement. She returns to her ancestral home in a district town of Maharashtra after spending her entire life in the United States where her parents, Eknath and Yashoda, are settled. But Mukta has always felt alienated in the US and has longed to return to India . A post-graduate scholarship to study sociology makes this possible. At the university she meets Milind Wagh, a fearless student leader and poet, to whom she is drawn, much to the chagrin of her Indian family. When things seem to be on the brink, news arrives that her American friend Julian is expected. Her family is happy, hoping that he will be able to ease the situation. But Julian turns out to be a black American. The triangular relationship of Mukta-Milind-Julian develops towards an unusual conclusion as issues of casteism, classism and Indianness are exposed and explored.