The Parcel is about a transgender sex worker, Madhu, in the red-light district of Bombay who is given an unexpected, harrowing task. Now, at forty, Madhu has moved away from prostitution, her trade since her teens, and taken up begging to support the leader of the hijras, Gurumai. One day Madhu receives a call from Padma Madam, the most-feared brothel owner in the district: a ‘parcel’ has arrived – a ten-year-old girl from the provinces, betrayed and sold by her aunt – and Madhu needs to prepare it for her fate.