The Story of Tabara

This story unveils the cruelty and indifference of the bureaucratic system. Tabarana Setty, a pawn in a municipality, feels proud when he is appointed as a tax collector in post-independence India. Tabarana’s efforts to collect revenues run into difficulties. His honesty only earns the wrath of the rich coffee planters. He becomes a victim of his own principles. He is asked to pay money which he has not collected but he refuses. This minor infringement results in his his pension after retirement being stopped. His wife falls ill and he has no money for the treatment. He literally runs from pillar to post, falling at everybody’s feet to get his pension. Bureaucracy only complicates the issue and Tabarana is totally disillusioned. He becomes very bitter and cynical.