Summary
At school, a man named Prasanna gives a demonstration, as a student plays tic-tac-toe. A man with an umbrella, Baidyanath, arrives at the school and the two of them begin talking about a play in a neighboring village. Baidyanath says that he plans to bring an even better company to their village and asks Prasanna for some oil, before leaving. After Baidyanath leaves, Prasanna yells at the student playing tic-tac-toe and hits his hand with a switch.
Back at home, Indir goes into the house while Sarbajaya is working. Sarbajaya looks inside and asks Indir what she is doing, and accusing her of stealing chilies. "Why didn't you ask?" Sarbajaya says, confronting her.
Later, Durga goes to Indir and puts a piece of fruit in her face, which makes Indir smile. Sarbajaya tells Durga that at her age, she should be helping out around the house. "Is it right to just play all day?" she asks, suggesting that Durga ought to learn to cook. Durga seems bored and says nothing, and her mother tells her to drink herb tea.
We see Hari walking with a young Apu and returning home. Apu runs to greet his mother and tells her he's hungry. Durga calls to him and Apu runs to play with her. Hari sees Indir who is crouched beside the house and asks Hari to help her up. He smiles at her and asks how she's doing, and she tells him, "Who cares about an old woman?" She shows him his shawl, and Hari tells her he'll buy her a new one soon.
When Hari asks Sarbajaya to light his pipe, she complains to herself that they are running out of money. She asks her husband if he's gotten paid yet, and he tells her that he cannot ask Ray or he will risk his job. "There must be other jobs in the district," Sarbajaya says, complaining that he hasn't been paid for three months and scolding him for being so passive.
Meanwhile Apu climbs up and grabs a bowl from a shelf to hand to Durga. Durga makes something in the bowl to eat, as Apu watches her. "You won't tell mother?" she asks Apu, and he agrees. The two of them eat and smile at each other. Suddenly a bell starts ringing, and Durga sees that it's the candy man passing by. She and Apu wander over and the candy man asks if they want anything. Durga tells Apu to ask their father or money, and Apu reluctantly goes. Sarbajaya tells Hari not to give Apu any money, but he gives him some anyway, just as the candy man is walking away. Apu and Durga run after the candy man, through the forest.
We see the image of Durga and Apu following the candy man reflected in a pond. They follow him to a complex bustling with children, where their scolding aunt lives, and some of the children invite Durga and Apu to play with them. Durga wants to play, but Apu is hesitant. One of the boys taunts Apu for not wanting to play, spinning a toy in front of his face. A young girl asks Durga if she would like some candy, but her mother does not approve.
The children go and play, and Durga finds another girl, Tunu, playing with some beads. She asks Tunu who gave them to her, and Tunu tells her they are from her father. When Durga offers to string them for Tunu, Tunu declines, and another girl comes over and give Durga some food.
Later, Durga leads a cow through a field, accompanied by Apu. The scene shifts and we see Hari writing at home, with Apu sitting beside him. Elsewhere, Indir wanders into a room and sits beside Durga, complaining that she has to patch up her own shawl. Suddenly, Sarbajaya calls Durga sternly, telling her it’s time to do her hair. Durga asks for two braids, as her mother combs it and complains that it’s dry and that they have no oil to put in it.
Durga tells her mother that her friend Ranu is engaged to be married. As Indir leans over her sewing, and Hari writes, Apu looks over at his sister and asks if she’s ever seen a train and if she knows where the railroad tracks are. Hari asks to see Apu’s writing. He looks it over and comments that it is good, telling him to add the word “wealth.”
The scene shifts and we see Apu looking at a dog as his mother feeds him. “You’re so tiny, do the other boys tease you?” Sarbajaya asks him, and he shakes his head before shooting a bow and arrow. He resists her feeding him and runs away, before giving the leftover food to the dog.
Suddenly, Durga and Apu’s wealthy aunt wanders in and asks where Durga is, telling Sarbajaya that Durga stole Tunu’s bead necklace that she had been admiring the other day. As Durga wanders in, Apu signals for her not to come in.
“Why are you so sure she took them?” asks Sarbajaya, to which the aunt responds, “Are you suggesting we’re lying?” Suddenly Sarbajaya sees Apu talking to Durga and calls her over. When she asks her whether she stole Tunu’s beads, Durga shakes her head, as Indir wanders into the courtyard. Indir asks what the problem is, and they remain silent, as Sarbajaya confronts the aunt about the fact that Durga would never steal something that cost money. The aunt scolds Sarbajaya about the money she is owed, then leaves angrily. Sarbajaya can hear the aunt gossiping about them outside the courtyard, saying they are a family of thieves.
Analysis
While the community is not especially wealthy in material assets, they highly value education and the arts. Hari assures his wife that he will be able to provide for his family by writing innovative plays that will raise his standing in society and bring him some money and popularity. Then, at school, the two adults talk about a theater company in a neighboring town and brag that they will bring an even better company to their village. Storytelling and the practice of theater are important facets of the community, even though resources are scarce.
As a teenager, Durga still shares a special bond with her old aunt, Indir, giving her fruit just as she did when she was a child. The connection between them is warm and knowing, in contrast to Sarbajaya's dismissive and at times cold behavior towards the old aunt. Indir is old and helpless, her back twisted and her eyes crossed with age. Durga takes special care of the old woman and, even against her mother's wishes, gives the old woman gifts that make her break into a wide, gap-toothed smile.
While times are tough for the family, the children Durga and Apu maintain a wide-eyed and expectant attitude towards their circumstance that contributes an enduring sense of play and fun to the narrative. Even though Sarbajaya chides her young daughter for always playing and never trying to take up any homemaking activities like an ambitious adult, Durga’s love of play and adventurous attitude is sustaining and nourishing for her and her young brother. The pressures of poverty are many, but at least the children know how to make the most of their situation.
Images of reflections occur throughout the film. When Apu and Durga are chasing the candy man, we see their reflection in a pond as they follow him, their bodies floating upside down in the pool beneath them. Then later, after their run-in with the other children, when they return home, we see the reflection of a grove of trees in the water, a beautiful image of peaceful nature. The imagery of reflections seems both to show what a beautiful environment the family inhabits, and to represent the ways that Durga and Apu are trapped by their poverty and looking at their own potential lives reflected in their friends. When they arrive at their friends’ house, they stand at the edge of the courtyard and the other children stare back at them, reflections of one another. The difference, of course, is that these children eat as much candy as they want, while Durga and Apu often go hungry.
Ray continues to illustrate the story with vivid photography. For instance, immediately after the accusatory aunt leaves Sarbajaya and goes to gossip about them outside in the forest, we see them as if from the branch of a tree overhead. The camera takes the position of an animal in the forest, or perhaps a sneaky child, watching the gossipy woman complain mercilessly about her poor relatives. From above, we can see that the aunt is not far from the courtyard, and that only a wall divides her from the object of her gossip. The next shot is a close shot of Sarbajaya as she hears the cruel things being said about her. Ray moves the camera around, from more omniscient and poetic perspectives to intimate ones, as a way of telling the emotional story of the central family.
