A million questions ran through her head. Whose was it? How did it get here? How much was it worth? Could she sell it? Should she sell it?
She sat down in a quiet place and thought. No one seemed to have come back to search for it. She kept throwing furtive glances in that direction, looking for a concerned face, a figure bent over, looking for something. But there was no such thing. She probably figured it was someone so rich it didn't matter to them if they'd lost a diamond ring. Just a diamond ring after all.
That brought into contrast her own situation. Poor starving, with nothing in lieu of raising her soon-to-be-born child. At that moment, she decided. She was going to sell it. It wasn't fair that someone be so rich they didn't care, while someone else sat here thinking what the right thing to do was. She was going to get her own.
She got up, careful not to put too much strain on her abdomen. She gripped the ring tightly as she walked towards the nearest jeweler's shop. She stopped looking at the place where she found the ring. Even if that certain someone did come, she was going to continue walking. She entered the store, 'Vishwas Jeweler's'.
The owner was sitting behind the counter, fitting the stereotype jeweler's image completely. A dull white silk kurta, a cap on his head, lots of gold around his neck and on his fingers, and a betel leaf in his mouth. She would have to talk her way to a good price with this one. He looked at the unexpected entrant in his shop and was about to shoo her away, before which she said,
'I have something to sell.' He looked at her ludicrously, as if expecting her to call off the bluff any moment. When she didn't, he decided to shoo her away anyway, until she showed him the ring.
'Where did you get this? Tell me!'
'It is the only thing my dead husband ever left me', she lied. 'I am now in no condition to keep the ring and want what I can make from it. So tell me what I can get for it.'
He extended his hand, and she placed it within his fingers. He took out his magnifying glass and observed the ring under the light for a few seconds, until he put it down with a snort.
'It's a fake. Your husband didn't leave you too much I guess.'
There was a ripple of anger that passed through her when he said that despite the fact that her story was a fabrication. But it was overshadowed by the waves of sorrow that engulfed her a few seconds later. It was a fake! For so many thoughts and ideas to pop into your head, to face so many possibilities for the first time in your life, only for them to be snatched away from your fingers. It felt akin to being punched in the gut. But then she realized, maybe...
'How can I know its a fake? Why should I believe you?' she asked aggressively
'Here I'll show you. Come here, look into the glass. See how the light seems to be spreading all over the place, how its lost its sharpness? A real diamond has very high refractive index, it reflects the light back cleanly. Glass creates a whole lot of diffusion, that is the spreading of light. Besides the linearity of the edges, or how straight they are, also seem glass like. Now do you see?'
She stepped back and nodded slowly, head bowed. She could not believe her luck. She would have been better off not having found the ring at all. It was one thing to not dream at all, but to dream and then lose those dreams? It hurt.
Try as hard as she might, she could not hold back her tears. Her eyes felt pregnant with them, and they spilled out hot and salty. She walked towards the door, about to make her way back to her sordid world, when the jeweler called her. She turned around. His features were set benevolently, and he smiled and told her to come back.
'You didn't listen to me entirely. I never said that artificial jewelery does not have any value of its own. Here, this is easily worth three thousand rupees. Take them.' And he thrust three thousand rupee notes into her hand. Both of them knew full well that it did not cost as much. She wiped her tears and gave him a genuine smile. Not one of those do-you-want-to-buy-my-balloon-child smiles. No these she reserved only for moments of true happiness and gratitude. It lit up her face and for a second she looked prettier than she actually did. She took the money and thanked him. He just smiled.
She walked out into the street. The breeze seemed to blow cooler, the afternoon seemed like evening, and she felt like she was walking on clouds. Alright, her mind ruefully thought, so I didn't find an actual diamond. But I found a genuinely good human being, something rarer than diamonds in today's world. And I got three thousand, which might not be a fortune, but its enough for some hope. Surely hope has not become that expensive yet. There's always that.
She looked up at the sky and smiled. Thank god for small favors.
XXX--ALTERNATE ENDING (Basically just adding two more paragraphs :P)--XXX
After she left, the jeweler chortled silently for a while and then hailed his wife. He told her what just transpired, how he had sold the poor woman something about smudged light and linearity of edges and whatnot. The poor illiterate had bought it hook, line and sinker. Then just to sweeten the deal and clear any last vestige of doubt in her head, he called her and gave her three thousand rupees. The diamond was easily worth three lakhs. His wife just listened to him and went back in. She had learnt long ago to silence her conscience, for it was of no use with her husband.
He looked happily at the figure in tattered clothes, walking away from his shop with a smile. Some days were just much better than the others.
Thank god for small favors.
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