Rami Baurani, a very popular play portraying collapse of the economy in Garhwal, has been staged almost in every town and village in the last 4–5 decades or even more. The protagonist of the play (identified in some accounts as Shyam Singh) joins the army. During a war, he is sent to a distant land for fighting, from where he goes missing. The news travels to his native village (referred to as Pali in some of the accounts) in the Garhwal district. Many take Shyam Singh as dead, but his wife, Rami, insists that he is alive. Due to the shock of losing the only son, the lone earning member of the family, Shyam Singh's father dies after some years. His wife continues to live with her mother-in-law, and looks after agriculture and all other works. She still regards herself as married or ‘suhagan’ (so celebrated in the Hindu religious tradition), rejecting all stories of the death of her husband. She works very hard and remains hopeful of her husband's return.

One day, when Rami, as usual, is working hard in the fields, a jogi (mendicant) appears suddenly and begins to tease her, asking her personal questions about her family and husband, and so on.