For generations, the ancestors of Puwal, and Puwal himself, have sailed the inhabitants of and visitors to the city by ferry across the river Dihing. Puwal is now getting old and prefers to forget about himself. However he has grand plans for his son, who already lives and works in the big city. When Hkuman, Puwal’s grandson who has lost both parents, comes to stay, it is also made clear to him that sailing a ferry does not offer any future. Puwal perseveres in his work to earn the money to pay for Hkuman’s education. He sees the world change rapidly and in many ways – and the last straw is the government’s decision to build a bridge over the river, in the name of ‘progress’. The city however also offers few perspectives. When Puwal arrives in Guwahati at the invitation of his son with his wife and grandson, he soon finds out that his son is driven by grimly materialistic motives. The price one has to pay for life in the city might well be the destruction of traditions and the family. On their return home, the construction of the bridge is already half finished. Puwal however refuses to be a passive victim. A calm and lyrical film about traditional values in Indian society, with an eye for emotions and human norms and values, as well as for the beautiful surroundings of the Assam region.
