Shalini's mother attempts to poison her entire family when it crumbles financially, but Shalini intervenes and promises to improve their financial condition. Soon, Shalini's family prospers, but her means of income comes into question.

Retired Ram Shastri is an upper-caste Hindu Brahmin who lives in a small Indian village and has a huge family which consists of his wife, Savitri, five daughters and three sons. In order to maintain his family he usually conducts small religious rituals for a merger amount with this being the only means of survival for the family. Ram's eldest daughter, Shalini has an admirer, Ashok who wants to marry her but Ashok's village chief father, Jagannath Rao will not permit his son to do so forcing Ashok to leave the house and join the army. Shortly after Jagannath gets a letter stating that his son has been killed. Additionally, Ram values his principles more and thus with the advent of the new era people from the Hindu community refuses to have any doings with him which leads to suffering among his family members. Unable to witness this Shalini decides to satisfy all her family's aspirations by making prostitution her career; on the occasion of her brother's Gautam wedding Shalini's bitter truth gets revealed to her family members changing lives forever.—gavin ([email protected])

Ram Shashtri, an upper Caste Hindu Brahmin, lives in a small village in India, but has a very large family, consisting of his wife, Savitri, five daughters and three sons. Ram performs prayers and last rite rituals for the Hindu community, and it is through these meager earnings that the entire household lives on. The eldest is a daughter by the name of Shalini, who silently falls in love with Ashok J. Rao, who is the son of the Village Mukhiya, Jagannath. As the Raos are of a much lower Caste than the Shastris, Ashok is told by his dad that he cannot marry Shalini. One day, after an argument with his dad, he leaves to join the army, and a few weeks later a telegram is received by Jagannath that Ashok is no more. As Ram is unable to get more assignments, Savitri attempts to poison the entire family, but Shalini stops her in time. She gets a job and is able to get the family to get back up on it's feet. Her brother, Gautam, wants to be a doctor, so she arranges for his studies, while her sister, Poorna, wants to be a singer, and a music teacher is arranged. Then Shalini leaves her village to travel to Poona to get her brother admission to Medical College, with considerable success, and from thence on there is no looking back for this family. Shalini gets a raise and an offer for a big pay-raise if she re-locates to the capital, Delhi, which she does. She sends plenty of money so her dad does not have to work, and her siblings can carry on with their respective studies. Then Shalini's sister, Girja, meets a young man, Raju, and both fall in love. Gautam, who is now a doctor, is in love with the Tehsildar's daughter, Usha, and wants to marry her. Shalini returns home to attend the two marriages. The marriages take place with great pomp and ceremony and everyone compliments Shalini, for without her efforts, the family would have been destitute. But after the weddings, her life will be changed forever, she will lose all respect from her family, she will be treated as an outcast and forced to leave the house. The question remains, why would Shalini be ill-treated by her very own family, and if so, what will become of her?—rAjOo ([email protected])