Burton, a young American who has stayed on in India following the end of World War Two, is engaged to marry Julia, a beautiful European girl he met in Bombay. Burton, his mother Katie and Julia arrive in Ginjim, a small village, to visit her family before Julia and Burton go to America on their honeymoon. Ginjim nestles at the foot of the great statue of "Gomateswara", which overlooks the entire countryside. Julia's family consists of her father, Putsi, a happy-go-lucky philosopher who believes that "everything works out", her older brother, Rault, a cynic; bitter because his wife left him while he was away at war; and Jeanette, Julia's younger sister. Molac, a rich man much older than Jeanette, wants to marry her. Then the rains come and Burton and Jeanette fall in love.