Impoverished priest Harihar Ray, dreaming of a better life for himself and his family, leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work.

The story of a young boy, Apu, and life in his small Indian village. His parents are quite poor - his father Harihar, a writer and poet, gave away the family's fruit orchard to settle his brother's debts. His sister Durga and an old aunt also still lives with them. His mother Sarbojaya bears the brunt of the family's situation. She scrapes by and sells her personal possessions to put food on the table and has to bear the taunts of her neighbors as Durga is always stealing fruit from their orchard. Things get worse when Harihar disappears for five months and Durga falls ill. Even after Harihar returns, the family is left with few alternatives.—garykmcd

Nischindipur, 1910s rural Bengal. With her emotionally unavailable Brahmin husband Harihar dreaming of recognition as a playwright, Sarbojaya, an impecunious mother of two, finds herself burdened with putting food on the table on her own. After all, she has no choice: her daughter Durga, son Apu, and frail Aunt Indir count on her. But Sarbojaya is fighting a losing battle; trapped in the dilapidated ancestral house, fate has doomed her to live forever on the verge of poverty, swallow her pride, and endure the neighbours' ridicule. And now, the unstoppable Indian monsoon is fast approaching. Once again, Sarbojaya can only wait and pray. However, no one knows what tomorrow brings.—Nick Riganas

Sometime in the early years of the century, a boy, Apu, is born to a poor Brahmin family in a village in Bengal. The father, a poet and priest, cannot earn enough to keep his family going. Apu's sister, Durga, is forever stealing guavas from the neighbour's orchards. All these add to the daily struggles of the mother's life, notwithstanding her constant bickering with old aunt who lives with the family.—L.H. Wong <[email protected]>