People had been shouting in the darkness, there was lot of pulling and pushing in the darkness. When the lights come on again, the diamond was gone. Nitali and Nihir, stare around in a daze as the Hall goes into lockdown. They are scared they will never see Nana and Nani again.
The strange couple who had pushed them when the darkness were quickly escaping from a side door, unobserved by others. Once more, they wonder, who are these people and why were they allowed to enter the Hall with the sword.
Regardless, Nihir and Nitali, quietly, follow them, there is no one in the corridor leading from the side door, when Nihir notices a thela on the floor. He bends over to pick up the thela, and gets whacked on his head. Nihir, falls down. Nitali hears the whack and footsteps going down the corridor, in the opposite direction. Nitali turns around in the nick of time to see a flash of light going down the dark corridor and her brother on the floor. She starts shouting for help. Nihir starts moaning. Nitali runs to check on him, he opens his eyes and turns to the thela he is clutching. They peek inside the thela and find some interesting items and he feels something sharp, he takes it out to see a small knife in there and next to it…… “a diamond”!
Both stare at it, not believing their eyes. But it was there alright! ‘What should they do? Is it real or a fake? ‘Silent thoughts coursing through her mind, Nitali helps Nihir on his feet and he is shaky but able to walk.
They walk back to the room they had come from, with Nihir, holding his head and Nitali the thela. Both are, hoping to find a security person or police to share what happened to them and what they found.
Back in the room, the crowd appears thinned out. People seemed to be standing against the wall, there is more order. Nitali spots Nana, and rushes to him, pulling Nihir with her. Nana is happy that they are safe, and hugs them tight. Nitali tells Nana about what happened to them and Nihir shows him the bag with the diamond.
Nana takes the bag, a frown covering his forehead, from his silver eyebrows to his equally silver hair. He walks over to the nearest security man and tells him the story that the kids just told him. The security man, gets Deputy Inspector General of Police, Gawtande to speak to the kids.
Just then, Nani spots them and rushes towards the kids, as her beautiful silk saree rustled, and her hair up in a bun started opening up and behind her, walking purposefully towards them, the strange couple. Nihir and Nitali are dumbstruck. What is Nani doing with that couple? How did they get in here so quickly? Who are they? Does she know them? Are they holding her captive? Many thoughts race though their mind…and same ones…even though the two have not spoken a word to the other!
Nani hugs them and is relieved to see that they are ok. She checks Nihir’s head, a small lump has formed. She asks if he can be checked by a doctor. DIGP Gawtande asks for a doctor to be brought to the scene. A doctor arrives to check both the kids. Seeing that they are alone with Nani, they whisper to her and ask her who the couple is. Nani whispers back, just some friends from near Dholavira, Gujarat”.
Soon enough, DIGP Gawtande walks over, with a hurried stride, glad to hear that the kids are not harmed and that a little ice will go long way in helping Nihir. The children share with him about how they found the bag and about someone running with a flashlight in the corridor after whacking Nihir on the head and how they checked the bag only to see the diamond next to what looked like a pocket knife. DIGP Gawtande thanks them profusely, wiping the sweat off his forehead and then quietly taking the thela from them.
The couple keep looking at the kids from time to time and chat quietly between themselves.
The DIGP Gawtande asks the Superintendent of Police, Mehra to send some hawaldars into the corridor to check if there was anything left behind and to follow the path out to the open grounds.He hands over the thela with the diamond to SP Mehra to keep in his custody. The strange couple are restless as Nani introduces them to DIGP Gawtande, who gives them a cursory nod and quickly disappears into the corridor.
The diamond is back but, is it real? Who had stolen it? Whose thela was it?
Life, a daily exploration 