1838: At the upper reaches of the Ganges, people toil for the British opium industry. Young Diti lives and works with her 6-year-old daughter Kabutri and her husband Hukam Singh on a poppy farm. Diti has daydreams, visions in which she sees a ship under sail coming up the river. She has never been to the sea, to the "black water," and cannot explain the vision. However, she senses that she might be on the brink of a significant change in her life. When Hukam dies after an accident in the factory, Diti would rather be burned than live with her brother-in-law, as tradition dictates. At the last moment, she is rescued by the Untouchable Kalua, and the two flee downstream on the Ganges to Calcutta. Upon arriving there after an adventurous journey, she sees the ship from her visions and finally understands.