For children: A break-in at Mumbai’s Asiatic Society Library may help uncover a rare blue sapphire

Indraneel Bapat perched uncomfortably on one of the rickety chairs in the grand Durbar Hall of the Asiatic Society. At 13 years, Indraneel, or Neel as he preferred to be called, was tall for his age, and had to fold his long legs to stop kicking the person in front of him. He was usually a happy-go-lucky kid, with a generous smile that always reached his eyes. But he wasn’t smiling now! He was blowing air out of the corner of his mouth, trying to flick away the lock of floppy, wavy hair that had fallen across his forehead. The collared T-shirt his mother had forced him to wear kept brushing against his neck, and he had to constantly fight the urge to pull at it. Focus, he said to himself, looking around. Giant spidery-looking chandeliers hung low from the oval ceiling, casting deep shadows everywhere. Large, ancient portraits of bygone scholars and reformists dominated the walls.

Neel’s imagination was getting the better of him. Something wasn’t right. He felt like he was being watched. Dark knights and shadowy creatures seemed to lie in wait for him and the hundred other guests seated in the hall. Try as he might, he...

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