‘Iman was a light sleeper and she was confident that if anyone tried to steal the jewel from under her bed, she would wake up immediately. One day, Iman received a letter. The letter was full of medical advice. It said that recent scientific research has proved that prolonged proximity to jewellery could lead to a serious, debilitating disease. Women were warned to take off their rings and necklaces before they went to bed. And even then, they should store them away in a separate room. On the following day there was a news item about how the shop attendants in the top three jewellery shops in the city had all fallen ill. As a result, the shops were forced to close. Iman became alarmed. She was attached to her mother’s jewel. It was a shimmering green diamond as large as an ostrich egg. It had belonged to her mother’s family for generations. The lights flickered and danced on the diamond in such a way that one could sit and watch them for hours without getting bored.’

‘I would get bored.’

‘No, you would not. You think you would. But you too would be transfixed. You too wouldn’t be bored. The following day, there were more reports of illnesses from people who owned jewels. Three of the shop attendants died. The authorities decided to call in all the jewels in the city. People were asked to deliver their jewels to the nearest police station and they were paid compensation for that. Iman didn’t take her green diamond to the police. She kept quiet. She was not the only one. There were others too who were suspicious of the reports. Or they were not confident that they would be compensated fairly. One of them was a childminder who sentimentally held on to her engagement ring. When the youngest child she was minding fell ill and died, there was widespread alarm. Everyone was convinced that the new law must be more vigilantly enforced. That was when the police raids started. Police bursting into people’s homes and taking their hidden jewellery.’

‘Did they raid Iman’s house?’

‘Before they raided her house, she escaped. She wrapped the green diamond in rags and ran away from the city. She ran far away until she was safe.’

‘But this doesn’t make sense,’ said Iman. ‘How come she didn’t fall ill like the others? Or even die?’

‘Because it wasn’t true,’ said the Hoopoe. ‘The scientific research was a hoax. The illness and death of the jewellery-shop attendants was a coincidence. The death of the child was caused by a gas leak and not the childminder’s engagement ring.’

‘But how did Iman know this? How was she sure that the diamond would not harm her?’