In India, farmers often commit suicide due to not being able to repay loans taken against their land. The story is about a 10-year-old boy named Shyam who lives with his father, mother, and sister on a small cotton farm. After their cotton crop fails, Shyam's family faces losing their farm and home, and his parents decide on a suicide pact. Shyam overhears this and takes it upon himself to try to save his family by winning a sack race at school with a cash prize.