Kalyani and Athai, two feisty women, sail through the turn-of- the century Madras Presidency under British rule, despite archaic and tyrannical customs such as child marriage and gender bias. Kalyani goes through a child marriage that ends her formal education because of a prevalent superstition that married girls would be widowed if sent to school. Educated at home by her intrepid Irish tutor, Susan O???Leary, Kalyani joyfully soaks in Shakespeare and Bacon. Packed off to her husband???s home at the onset of puberty, she faces the taunts of her retrograde female-in- laws as she has grown taller than her husband Natrajan. Athai, on the other hand, uses her widowhood to advantage by pursuing her education at home. The family discovers an astonishing secret about her when she dies. Kalyani battles her way through funny situations to evolve as a successful badminton coach with the support of her husband and her father-in- law. Ambujam, her mother-in- law mocks her English and English education but is forced to seek Kalyani???s help for her daughter Karpagam, rejected by her husband for not knowing English. Mani, Kalyani and Natrajan???s son breaks away from the ???tall, fair, convent-educated??? syndrome to bring home a dusky complexioned bride. Kalyani???s story is written by Shailaja capturing the changing ethos of those times with irony, pathos and humour.