Abstract

The Half Life of Gems follows two cousins in the Haidar family, Nadim and Abrar, during their summer visit to their ancestral home in Ujjalpur, Bangladesh. Abrar Haidar is the son of Zohair Haidar, a successful RMG (Ready Made Garments) manufacturer. Abrar is struggling to find the courage to tell his father he doesn’t want to run the family business. Moreover, he hopes to marry Sadaf, but he is clueless about her feelings towards him. It doesn’t help that Sadaf’s father dislikes Abrar, and is critical of the exploitative nature of the garments industry. Abrar’s cousin Warda holds him responsible for ruining the Pan Art Competition at school, and greatly affects his summer holiday. Soon he realizes a man is stalking him, and he learns that his father had history with Qazi, an infamous war criminal.
Meanwhile, Nadim Haidar plots revenge against Abrar due to past grudges. Nadim aspires to be a detective and the story of a robbery during the Bangladesh Liberation War inspires him. One night as Nadim lays in wait for Abrar, Nadim spies on a servant named Shakil hiding something in the forest surrounding their house. He becomes obsessed with trying to solve the mystery. Abrar gets involved against his will and realizes the situation is more sinister than it seems. He is torn between confronting and protecting his father as he delves deeper into the past.