In 1974, Anand "Annie" Grover is victimized for making fun of his principal, Y. D. Billimoria (popularly known as Yamdoot or Hell's messenger), years ago. At the
School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, Annie is repeating his fifth year for the fourth time. He spends his hours in the hostel which is the best part of his life, by "giving it those ones" – indulging in daydreams of social uplift. His latest idea is to plant fruit trees on either side of railway tracks, where rural India defecates daily. The faecal matter will provide the necessary compost for the trees, while the trains, with sprinklers attached, will automatically water the plants. Annie keeps two hens in his room and earns a modest sum by selling their eggs, until one day his friend, Mankind, and his Ugandan roommate, Kasozi, make a roasted meal out of them. Soon, however, hirsute Arjun and his girlfriend Radha – a
non-conformist student who steals cigarettes from Yamdoot and talks back to the teachers – present Annie with a rabbit. Many adventures later, the day to submit the thesis draws near. Annie, urged by his friends, apologises to Yamdoot. A panel of judges calls the students one by one for their final interviews, and the tension mounts. Radha goes dressed in a saree but wears a man's hat to detract from her sober attire. To make sure that Annie gets a sympathetic hearing from the hostile panel, Radha and Arjun work out a plan. Just when Annie is called in, Yamdoot receives a phone call from his dominating, deep-voiced mother (who, in actuality, is Mankind). The trick works, and the weary panel gives Annie a good grade. At the party after the graduation ceremony, Annie arrives with heavy books under his arm, his hair shaved off, and a butterfly painted on his head. He informs his friends that he has decided to study law and then sue Yamdoot. An epilogue then reveals the fates of the characters: Papey returned to
Ludhiana as a building contractor after failing to graduate, Lakes runs an interior design firm in
South Delhi, Kasozi is the vice chairman of the Kampala Urban Development Authority, Mankind is the architect for a departmental store chain in Copenhagen, Arjun has become the second biggest commercial marigold farmer in India, Radha pivots towards writing but drowns to death in 1976 before she can complete her first novel, and Annie is appointed assistant professor of design at the National Institute of Architecture in 1977, a year after Yamdoot's retirement. == Cast ==