Viswam and Seeta come to the city as eloped lovers, but although the social pressures to conform may be less stifling, the economic pressures make their survival increasingly precarious. They move from their expensive hotel to a cheaper one, and eventually to a slum, with a smuggler, a rice seller and a prostitute for neighbours. Viswam, who is also a writer, has his novel turned down, and then loses his job as a lecturer. Eventually he dies in poverty, leaving Seeta a destitute widow with a small baby.