Upendranath Chowdhury (Tarun Bose), a well-established engineer and his wife Charu (Sulochana Latkar) are a young couple celebrating their daughter Rama’s first birthday when some villagers bring another girl to their doorstep. The baby is an acchyut, an untouchable, and an orphan. The villagers beg the couple to give shelter to the baby till someone of her caste could be found to take her in. Overcome by pity, Charu and Upendra appoint their daughter’s nanny to take care of the child.

As days pass, the couple try repeatedly to find a home for baby Sujata - Charu remarks how Upen has chosen a fancy name for the low-born girl - but fails. While Upen clearly has a soft corner for the baby, Charu displays her affection in fits and starts - torn between her ‘sanskaar’ about untouchability, and her love for the girl growing up with her own daughter. At the other end is buaji (played by the feisty Lalita Pawar), an unrelated but close acquaintance, who believes low-caste people are literally toxic and repeatedly urge the couple to get rid of the baby.