A promising young violin player, is about to leave Iran to study music in Norway, when he gets turned down for a student visa. Days before he gets drafted in the Army, he leaves for former Russia, where he shines at the local conservatory. Despite all that, and many attempts for a visa to Norway, He ends up back home. At the end, he is in uniform and still playing... The encounter with Ali, and all the parallels in both their lives, forces the narrator to reflect on his own situation.