Quite simply, the story is about Janhvi, an old woman in her 70s, who reminisces her past in the context of the costs of day to day life. The old woman’s little diaries – her informal books of accounts that she has maintained over the years, contain not merely numbers, but are a source of memories from her life as she formerly saw it and lived it.

It was never cheap then, nor is it cheap now to live in a city, but Liberalisation brought with it, a remarkable change in the perception of money in middle-class households. The old woman is unable to come to terms with the way her son, daughter and daughter-in-law regard money. Their expenses and lack of maintaining a proper account of day to day expenditure baffle and overwhelm her, although she acknowledges them to be good children, educated and independent. She has faced all challenges and undergone a great transformation in her life with a smile on her face.

In the evening after the prayers she rests on her couch with her traditional vessel from which she sips water, the old trunk that she rummages her diaries from, the Tulsi plant, the incense smoke and the quiet presence of her mother off stage and unknowingly she starts sharing.