Ava's Emerald Necklace is based on the true story of Shireen Rustomjee, who comes into possession of a bag of priceless jewels for which she is determined to have fashioned into an emerald necklace, as a wedding gift for her granddaughter Ava. Along her journey to get the necklace made she faces challenges that invoke her dependence on her ingenious "Toolbox of Coping Strategies" to escape threats to her life and theft of the jewels.
The drama plays out against the background of Mahatma Gandhi's Passive Resistance Movement against the racist laws of the South African Boer government, fueling Ava's political conscience to make her own contribution for justice in her homeland of South Africa