Beautiful widow Joan D'Silva is at Calcutta's Howrah Station, fleeing Calcutta with her 11-year-old son Errol. On the same train is Lakshmi, a charismatic, sensual, and powerful hijira prostitute. Both women are fleeing to Lucknow in northern India to escape danger, but soon their lives will become entangled in a web of corruption and blackmail. Who is responsible for the poisoning at the factory? Is it the Workers Revolutionary Movement, the Children of God led by the charismatic Swami Naik, or another group entirely? With the ineffectual Detective Inspector Mallothra unable to solve the mystery, it falls to Joan, her friends, and her son to unmask the perpetrator. This witty, vivid tale of intrigue is filled with a cast of colorful characters and is immersed in the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of 1960s India.