In the fictional Indian town of Malgudi, the local sign painter, Raman, lives an uninteresting life making rounds to customers and reading obscure books. Raman takes great pride in the quality of his work but is often left with disappointed customers. Fortunately, he gleans enjoyment from the process of creating regardless of what others think. Much of his pleasure comes from painting by the river that runs by the ancestral home where Raman lives with his aunt.

The story begins with Raman delivering a sign to a lawyer with astrological beliefs that do not align with Raman's scientific reasoning. He feels trapped amidst the crowded noisiness of the sign-hanging event. Raman seeks comfort by riding his bike home and swimming in the river. While there, he admires a woman's legs and reflects that his attraction to the female form is merely the result of curiosity.

The next day, Raman returns to business. It is often difficult for him to get customers to pay for their signs. This time, Raman is left with a "cash only" sign that a customer refused. Instead, Raman gives the sign to a religious hypocrite in exchange for a booklet that says "This will pass" in calligraphy that Raman admires.

Life for Raman begins to change when he starts on a project for the Family Planning Centre. He meets with a young woman named Daisy to go over specifics for the sign. 

Raman is attracted to Daisy and makes an excuse to visit her at home. Upon leaving, Raman is afraid he has made a fool of himself and admits his reasoning for seeing Daisy: he is "sex-obsessed." Despite the easy acceptance of this admission, Raman feels ashamed when he proceeds to dream of Daisy.

Weeks after her sign is hung, Daisy pays a visit to Raman. Until now, Raman had been purposefully not thinking of her. Daisy proposes that Raman paint signs in rural villages promoting birth control and small families, a cause she is very passionate about.

Daisy and Raman spend three weeks promoting population control in rural areas. They travel with few comforts and are often not understood by the village people. Daisy proceeds undismayed, but Raman struggles to understand the seriousness and zeal of her mission.

Despite their differing beliefs, Raman and Daisy develop a familiarity with each other. Raman sees their relationship as like that of a "considerate husband and an irritable wife."

In one village, a one-hundred-year-old Yogi reveals a portion of Daisy's past, a topic that Raman has been curious about. Raman learns that Daisy ran away from home when she was young.

Later, Raman returns to the Yogi's temple and prays for Daisy to be his wife. Soon after, their cart driver mistakes them for newlyweds. Thus, when his steer is injured, the cart driver walks to the closest village and leaves Daisy and Raman alone for the night on the side of the road.

While lying down to sleep, Raman plans to rape Daisy. Fortunately, she is not in the cart when he makes the attempt. Without his noticing, she had climbed a tree to get away.

When the driver returns, Daisy wants nothing to do with Raman; she wants them to go their separate ways. She threatens to put him in jail for trying to take advantage of her, and simultaneously, Raman dreams of all the ways of making Daisy his wife. After departing at the bus stop, Daisy hails a ride without a backward glance at Raman. 

Upon returning home, Raman is plagued with worry about whether or not Daisy will go to the police....