Baburao is a landlord in India, who is very near-sighted, and always in financial trouble. He has a tenant named Raja, who has not paid his rent for several months. He also has anther tenant named Shyam, who has come to the city to look for a job in his late father's place, but is unable to find employment. The three men quarrel amongst themselves frequently. Then one day, the three men get a phone call from a kidnapper named Kabira, and decide to make use of this phone call to overcome their financial problems - pretend to be the real kidnappers, increase the ransom amount, keep the incremental amount for themselves, and then give the original ransom demanded to Kabira. Will they get away with this idea?

After being asked to leave by his Palanpur-based landlady Mrs. Rai, Civil Engineering student, Rahul Saxena, finds a room with Rajeshwari Saxena, who treats him like a family member. He is subsequently introduced to her sister, Nisha, both are attracted to each other, and plans are made to get them married. Rahul will soon find out that he will soon not only be asked to leave, but also instructed to assist in the marriage of Nisha with Yuvraaj Saxena.

While traveling by train to visit his grandfather in Jamshedpur, Calcutta born, Bengali-speaking Ashoke Ganguli meets with fellow-traveler, Ghosh, who impresses upon him to travel, while Ashoke is deep into a book authored by Nicholai Gogol. The train meets with an accident, and after recuperating, Ashoke re-locates to America, settles down, returns home in 1977 to get married to aspiring singer, Ashima, and returns home to New York. Shortly thereafter they become parents of a boy, who they initially name Gogol, and a few years later both give birth to Sonia. The family then buy their own house in the suburbs and travel to India for the first time after their marriage. The second time they travel to India is when Gogol and Sonia are in their late teens, and after a memorable visit to Kolkata and then to the Taj Mahal, they return home. Gogol falls in love with Maxine Ratliff and moves in with her family, while Ashoke spends time traveling, and Sonia moves to California, leaving Ashima...