Adapted from a short story of the same name by Parasuram (Rajsekhar Basu), the film offered an early glimpse of Ray's sense of humour, centered on a middle-class clerk who accidentally discovers a stone that can turn other objects into gold.

Paresh Chandra Dutt (Tulsi Chakrabarti), a middle-class bank clerk in Kolkata, attends a charity match on a rainy day rather reluctantly.

He now has a young secretary named Priyatosh Henry Biswas (Kali Banerjee) who, among other things, mentions that Dutt is invited to a cocktail party (his first).

Paresh Dutt flees with his wife, Giribala (Ranibala Devi), leaving nearly everything (including the stone) with Priyatosh but cautioning him to hand it over if the police arrive.

Dr. Nandi (Moni Srimani), a medical specialist, informs the inspector (Haridhan Mukherjee) that Priyatosh is digesting the stone.

Parash Pathar "would belong among Ray's best work, were it not for some rough edges which betray the speed at which it was shot .... its humour only partly transplants to the west."