Images of a tree with multi-coloured streamers dancing in the wind and of vibrantly hued origami birds suggest the exuberance and freedom of childhood. Yet, when queried about their ambitions, the youngsters’ replies – an astronaut, a researcher, a trash collector, a pilot – not only reveal a sense of wonder at the world, but hint at a subconscious wish to repair or to transcend it. Symbolically, a few students are glimpsed, at intervals, sporting a half-face mask; they’ve found themselves cast as involuntary observers and witnesses of a bewildering drama. These masks equally may represent a stifling of self-expression or a concealment of various scars.

Troubled by the bruises on her arm that Rana does her best to hide − and by her sudden, days-long absence from school − Roham later becomes an accidental witness to her molestation by her stepfather. When, in his self-appointed role as her protector, the boy acts upon this knowledge, his daring is met with outrage.