The desai, Appa Sahib, is a freedom fighter and is in jail. His wife is Thayi Sahiba, who
is childless. Quite unexpectedly, Appa Sahib is temporarily released as his mistress
Chandra has given birth to a girl. Thayi Sahiba is all set to receive him, but he goes
directly to Chandra's house to spend the night with her. When he comes to the waade the
next morning, Thayi Sahiba hides her disappointment and lovingly massages his body.
Thayi Sahiba is aware of her own limitations. She tried to have a glimpse of his world by
browsing through the old paper clipping which carried the Sahib's article on the freedom
struggle. But it is all a little above her and she reverts to her holy books.
Meanwhile Appa Sahib's first wife who lives as a recluse in a temple tells Thayi Sahiba
that the Sahib has decided to adopt her brother's son which will make the future of the
desai-waade secure. Though inwardly feeling let down because the news came to her through
a third person, Thayi Sahiba receives the news cheerfully. Appa Sahib is jailed again and
released only when the British decide to leave India.
Akka's brother's son is duty adopted. Only Thayi Saheba understands his stubbornness. In a
powerful scene he even tells her that the Appa Sahib has done injustice not only to her
that the Appa Sahib has done injustice not only to her but also to his first wife and
Chandra as well. Matters complicate when he decides to marry Chandra's daughter. He
justifies himself by saying that he would be undoing the wrong done to Chandra by Appa
Sahib.
Akka's brother is concerned about his son's welfare. He wants him to marry a girl from a
respectable family. When Thayi Sahiba and Akka's brother tries to stop him from his
intended step, he leaves home. When he is forcibly brought home, he takes to drinking.
Meanwhile the world around Thayi Sahiba has undergone several changes. Appa Sahib tries to
bring some meaning to his life by first participating in the struggle for self-rule in the
then princely state and later in identifying himself with the land for the tiller
movement. The first breaks his kneecap in the jail and the second annihilates him. Appa
Sahib's brother is interested in retaining the desai property for his biological son.
But Thayi Sahiba is concerned about liberating her adopted son from the waade and all that
it stood for in her eyes. The film ends with the arrival of the police for Thayi Sahiba.
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