36 CHOWRINGHEE LANE'' is the story of Violet Stoneham, an ageing Anglo-Indian schoolteacher who lives in a dingy apartment in Calcutta and teaches Shakespeare. "Nandita and Samaresh" a pair of young lovers walk into her life one Christmas morning and break up its well regulated pattern. Nandita and Samaresh are tired of sneaking kisses in taxis and start using her apartment as a meeting place. In the process, a warm and exciting relationship grows up between the young lovers and the old lady. This new found friendship becomes paramount in the old teachers life. But the ephemeral excitement vanishes and an estranged Violet once again finds solace in her beloved Shakespeare.